Nadya Tolokonnikova, creator of the anti-Putin resistance group Pussy Riot, was named a top enemy of Russia for speaking out against Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship throughout the last decade. In this inspiring TED Talk, she tells the story of her imprisonment and exile, shares what motivates her resistance and delivers a powerful message to Putin himself.
For some of us, living courageously is a choice. For others, like our friends in Ukraine, this is not a choice – it is a matter of survival. Putin is embarrassed that Ukraine chose truth and democracy. russians are bombing hospitals, maternity wards, schools – raping & killing civilians and throwing their bodies in mass graves.
Putin, and all those who support him are dead inside and must be defeated.
While I’m here – I’d like to address Vladimir Putin directly – wanted criminal to wanted criminal:
The Kremlin walls have become your prison walls. You have already lost, and the world stands with the brave people of Ukraine.
When you are in your final hour, praying, know this: that whoever you pray to is on our side. And whoever that is … she will not forgive your crimes against humanity.
Conceptual performance artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnikova is the creator of Pussy Riot, a global feminist protest art movement. Today, hundreds of people identify as a part of the Pussy Riot community.
She was sentenced in 2012 to 2 years’ imprisonment following an anti-Putin performance. Went through a hunger strike protesting savage prison conditions and ended up being sent far away to a Siberian penal colony, where she managed to maintain her artistic activity and with her prison punk band she made a tour around Siberian labor camps. Published a book “Read and riot: Pussy Riot’s guide to activism”.
Co-founder of independent news service and media outlet, Mediazona, she has spoken before the US Congress, British Parliament, European Parliament, appeared as herself on season 3 of House of Cards, performed at Banksy’s “Dismaland” exhibition.
Pussy Riot’s Punk-prayer was named by The Guardian among the best art pieces of the 21st century (“feminist, explicitly anti-Putin, protesting the banning of gay pride and the Orthodox church’s support of the president”), collaborated with Bansky on his Dismaland exhibition, endorsed by Marina Abramovic and Ai Weiwei, created an immersive experience in London’s Saatchi gallery.
Pussy Riot stands for gender fluidity, inclusivity, matriarchy, love, laughter, decentralization, anarchy, and anti-authoritarianism.
