Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia

Upcoming exhibition, starting on Octobber 25th, 2023.

The performances, music, and videos created by the feminist punk art collective Pussy Riot, formed in Moscow in 2011, are characterized by provocative and politically charged lyrics and actions. Guided by the dictum that all protest art should be “desperate, sudden, and joyous,” Pussy Riot has courageously, and with a wry smile, shone a light on the brutal injustices that the Russian state inflicts on its citizens through political imprisonment, arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial executions, mysterious poisonings, aggressive surveillance, and other means of suppressing critical voices.

Curator: Masha Alyokhina, Ragnar Kjartansson, Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir et Dorothee Maria Kirch, with John Zeppetelli and Marjolaine Labelle (coordination).

Attack on Pussy Riot, 2014
©Pussy Riot
Photo: Alexander Sofeev

Punk Prayer, 2012
©Pussy Riot
Photo: Mitya Aleshkovsky

Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia, Pussy Riot’s first survey exhibition, was initially presented at Kling & Bang, an art space in Reykjavik. It was an encounter in Moscow between Maria “Masha” Alyokhina and Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson that led to this project. Kjartansson, who curated the Reykjavik exhibition with Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir and Dorothee Maria Kirch, has described the group’s work as having a “non-consensual relationship with the state.” Indeed, Pussy Riot has used the police state’s apparatus of repression and authoritarianism as a creative partner, engaging in an uneasy “dance with the devil.” The show amply documents both the variety of Pussy Riot’s actions and the reactions and punishments meted out by the authorities.

Maria Alyokhina is a Russian artist and political activist. She was co-winner of the 2012 Lennon Ono Grant for Peace and received the Hannah Arendt Prize in 2014. Pussy Riot was awarded the 2023 Woody Guthrie Prize, which honours the spirit of resistance through music, literature, dance, and other art forms.

The exhibition Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia is organized and circulated by Kling & Bang gallery.

*Crimea*, 2014

©Pussy Riot
Photo: Courtesy Pussy Riot

Espace M

A space for participation and conversation

This project space has been created to encourage visitors to engage critically with the different issues raised by the exhibition Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia.

Have questions following your visit of the exhibition? Espace M brings together a selection of resources available for consultation. These resources are intended to help you further explore the ideas and themes present in the exhibition. In addition, they offer avenues for reflection on some of today’s urgent social issues.

Need to express yourself? You’re invited to discover the different participatory elements in the space that encourage you to express your opinions and ask questions. As the responses accumulate, they will form a record of the visitors’ collective experience of the exhibition.

Espace M is also activated with public events and regularly includes the presence of members of the art mediation team to encourage and enhance conversations about the exhibition. Consult our calendar of activities for more details about upcoming events.

Created to offer a convergence between cultural Mediation and the Museum experience, this dynamic space invites the public to participate in the conversations and debates provoked by contemporary art.

Espace M was created by Ohisse: Atelier de design social in collaboration with the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.

Image credit: Ohisse, 2023

Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia

Espace M

Partners

This fall, make it the MAC!

Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia

Espace M

Related

Opening Lecture Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia

Exhibition tour with Maria Alyokhina and John Zeppetelli

RIOT DAYS

Partners

This fall, make it the MAC!

Opening Lecture
Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia