An entity with the name "Pussy Riot" begs a lot of questions, and when it comes to art as a form of resistance, the group explores it all: they have made incendiary, thought-provoking music with everyone from Dorian Electra to Our Lady Peace; they have staged countless guerrilla demonstrations varying in form and intensity, including one time when they dressed fellow activists up in Russian police uniforms to storm the field during the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final in Russia; and now, they are focusing their efforts on visual art exhibitions like Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot's Russia, a survey of the collective, their philosophy and their actions.
The exhibition was previously shown at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark and the Musée d'art contemporain in Montreal, and it will spend 10 weeks at the Polygon Gallery in North Vancouver, BC, from March 22 to June 2.
Throughout their artistic and political pursuits, they have acquired notable allies, including Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who sent group co-founder Maria "Masha" Vladimirovna Alyokhina a birthday telegram following the group's arrest in 2012 for their protest at Moscow's Christ the Saviour cathedral. Since the opposition leader's death on February 16, Masha has been characteristically vocal, writing in an editorial for The Guardian, "The loudest, clearest and brightest voice against Vladimir Putin's regime has been murdered, despicably, out of sight."
Despite everything Pussy Riot have accomplished, when I turn on Zoom to speak with Masha, none of her history is immediately palpable.
Without any context, it wouldn't be clear that I'm talking to someone who has crashed Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in a ski mask for a performative protest demonstration over a decade ago, and fled her country as a political refugee six months prior to our interview. As she parses her thoughts between hits of a colourful nicotine vape, it becomes increasingly clear that I'm chatting with someone who is outspoken but true to her nature and unapologetically herself, with all of her wit and peculiar perspectives. I'm talking to Masha — and Masha is one of a kind.
What are you up to?
It's already a year and a half since the moment when I [left] my country. I crossed the border with the goal of helping Ukraine, and this month will be two years since the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine. This war didn't start in 2022, though; it started in 2014 when Russia first annexed Crimea, a territory of Ukraine. It was a very hard decision for me; the first decision in my life like this. I felt that, in war, you should take a position — and I took it. I want Ukraine to live, and to exist as a country, and be protected. I wish them to win with all my heart.
What I'm doing now is all dedicated to this issue. Through our concepts we are raising money for a children's hospital in Ukraine; the [Velvet Terrorism] exhibition shows, as I call it, the "road to hell" which Russia paved in the last 10 years, through our actions, context, and reactions towards the state. This is not a full picture; it is a personal view. But I hope it can help people feel a little bit of what we've felt, and make them have a better understanding of what is going on.
There is a catalogue for this exhibition too, and all catalogue money will be going towards the exhibition as well.
What are your current fixations?
Everything that I'm reading now, I'm reading because I need it for what I'm doing. This includes history books, and Russia has a very difficult and bloody history…
I also have one incomplete task from my time in Russia. I really wanted my driving license, but each time I went to driving school, they detained me for 15 days, so basically it was just useless money spent. So now, I want to complete it, get the thing and have the possibility to drive wherever I want.
Why do you live where you do?
I still haven't built a "second base" [after leaving Russia]. I'm in Iceland for February, but actually I'm living on the road with a suitcase and backpack. And where I'm living, I'm working: it's tours, it's exhibitions, and it's writing.
Life has been unpredictable and there is no second home for me right now, but I'm super thankful to Iceland for giving me citizenship and the possibility to travel. Russian authorities took all my documents, so I basically crossed the border without anything. Now, I have a passport, which I can use for travelling.
What has been your most memorable or inspirational concert and why?
One of the most memorable concerts for us so far was a half-underground concert in Moscow. This was organized by Moscow activists and feminists in 2019, and the festival was dedicated to the feminist initiative to put domestic violence in Russian law. As you probably know, Russia is the only country in Europe that does not have a law against domestic violence; all the discussions about this law provoked horrible statements from the Orthodox Church, as well as some of the Russian authorities, who said that the law against domestic violence is the law against traditional violence.
The concert was memorable because it was completely different from what we have here in the West: because it was underground, there was not a lot of possibility to inform people beforehand. The venue where we performed was shut down after this festival and several other political opposition events.
It's hard to describe, but I think the reason the Moscow half-underground festival was so memorable is because when you see people from your own country who love you, it is very cool and important. It's really something.
What's been the greatest moment of your career so far?
I never thought about my life as being a career. At all. But the greatest moment of my life? It's hard to choose one moment! I think when my son was born, that was a great moment. He's now 16, but when he was first born, that was really cool.
What was the first song you ever wrote?
When we collaborated on "Putin Pissed His Pants," it was the first time I'd seen collaborative writing, where each person gives a paragraph, or even several words. I really loved the method, because each person can [have] their own impact. That was a method I loved, and it was back in 2011. Since this first moment, we've used this method a lot with Pussy Riot.
What do you think of when you think of Canada?
Hmmm… Other than the maple syrup? I think snow, and opposition.
Snow because you have a lot of snow, and we also have it both in Russia and in Iceland where I currently am. And opposition because my sense is that Canada is the opposite of the United States when it comes to human rights and humanity.
What's the meanest thing anyone has ever said about your art?
Negative? The list is endless! We've been called "bitches," "whores," "agents of the West," "enemies of the nation," and a whole lot more. I think it's all prepaid by state propaganda bots [in Russia], and they work on English-speaking Twitter, too.
What was the first album you ever bought with your own money?
Without You I'm Nothing by Placebo.
What was your most memorable day job?
My first job was at a video rental store when I was 15, and that was because it was not allowed to ask anyone under 16 to work. So it was only half-legal, and I was just giving their advertisement leaflets near the subway. I only made a small amount of money, but I had enough access to watch all the films they had there for free.
If you weren't playing music, what would you be doing instead?
I want to learn many more methods as a professional partisan. In some parallel life, I probably could be a lawyer.
How do you spoil yourself?
I don't like sweets much, other than salt and caramel ice cream. But I love to swim, and I love to drive fast.
What traits do you most like and most dislike about yourself?
I think a good thing about myself is that I value honesty, and I've a lot to keep my child honest. I'm also good at believing in myself.
And bad thing? Oh, there's so many bad things! I think sometimes I need to not talk so much and shut up. And I'm too much of a perfectionist: Sometimes I need to stop trying to make things perfect.
What's the best way to listen to music?
I think it's really cool to listen to music when you drive, but this is a very personal question. A lot of people love to listen to music in their own way.
Also, it's a really cool thing when you go to a protest rally with artists and musicians on the stage; not only just talking people in suits, but people playing music too. It makes for some really amazing spirit.
What do you fear most?
I'm fine with zombies and ghosts — they are okay. But it would be really bad if I could never return to my country ever again.
If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?
A lot of things! We are already helping different people [through Pussy Riot], so with a bigger amount of money we could help more people. I would choose several families of Russian political prisoners and just give it to them, because it's quite expensive to stay in a Russian prison and survive there.
What has been your strangest celebrity encounter?
I remember one evening when there was a gap between my house arrest, so I was able to walk for two months. I went to this one club, and when I was smoking, I saw two girls who were shouting at each other quite rudely. I was watching it, so I approached them and told them, "Guys, you just cannot imagine what you have. You can just go from your house, and just go back. You can do these steps without thinking about it, and that's just so cool."
I think I must have sounded so crazy, and neither of them recognized me so they said just "fuck off" and continued to fight. I was so sad, and I suddenly started to cry. All of a sudden, another girl from inside the club found me and she started to tell me how important it is what [Pussy Riot] is doing and thanking me. It was just so much different from the encounter I had moments beforehand. She came to me like an angel, with a lot of faith.
Who would be your ideal dinner guest, living or dead, and what would you serve them?
Jesus Christ and his mother Mary, and I would give them some blueberries, maybe other berries, and maybe something from the north which they did not try — something like borscht. Not the baby Jesus though, and also not the famous one. Maybe like a teenager version of Jesus, or around 20 years old.
What is the greatest song of all time?
Greatest song? That's so pretentious! There's so many things to listen to. But maybe "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen.
