Nadya Tolokonnikova, a founding member of Russian feminist punk band and protest performance artists Pussy Riot, has reportedly been placed on a wanted list for criminal suspects by Russian authorities.
The Associated Press reports that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova’s name was found by Russian news outlet Mediazona – which was co-founded by Tolokonnikova and fellow Pussy Riot founder Maria Alyokhina – on the Russian Interior Ministry’s database of wanted individuals earlier this week. AP also reviewed the entry, which reportedly states Tolokonnikova faces criminal charges but does not specify what they were.
Tolokonnikova: “They Threaten Us But We Cannot Show Fear”
Tolokonnikova has since shared a statement via Pussy Riot’s official Instagram account in which she confirms that she has been added to Russia’s federal wanted list. “Any truly political artist risks their personal safety for the sake of their art. It is not a new concept for me. But maybe the first time an NFT is being used as evidence to try to throw me back in jail.” The post’s image shows a Pussy Riot NFT titled Virgin Mary, Please Become a Feminist.
Tolokonnikova goes on to indicate that her listing may have been motivated by a Ukraine flag NFT that she backed raising “close to 7M dollars” for Ukraine recently. She added that it also could have been motivated by a recent Pussy Riot performance piece in Los Angeles with Jeffrey Deitch, in which they “captured the performance of burning Putin’s effigy and collecting and selling his ashes.”
“The timing of this criminal case makes me think so,” she continued. “They threaten us but we cannot show fear. I will use the tools I have as an artist and crypto activist to keep fighting. I’m not a soldier, I’m an artist, art is my weapon. Glad to see they are scared.”
Earlier this month, Russian human rights lawyer Pavel Chikov claimed Tolokonnikova is being charged with “offending against religious feeling.” That became a criminal offence in Russia in 2013, a little over a year after Pussy Riot’s 2012 “Punk Prayer” anti-Putin performance art piece, held outside Moscow’s Christ the Savior Cathedral. Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina both served two years’ imprisonment following the incident for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.”
According to Pitchfork, translations of court documents shared with the publication by Pussy Riot’s team indicate Tolokonnikova is being investigated for images on her Instagram account which the Russian government deem offensive to Christianity. According to AP, Tolokonnikova has left Russia, and was designated by the Russian government as a “foreign agent” in 2021.
Further Reading
Pussy Riot: ‘MATRIARCHY NOW’ Review – Fun, Free, But Troubling
Pussy Riot Team Up With 100 Gecs & Dorian Electra For New Single ‘Toxic’
