Russian punk band, Pussy  Riot kicks off  arts exhibition on Velvet Terrorism

Admin I Friday, September 06, 2024

 

MUNICH – Russian art-punk band Pussy Riot  has unveiled a new museum exhibition at Munich’s Haus der Kunst. The exhibition, titled “Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia,” opened on Thursday evening and is the first museum exhibition of the group’s work in Germany. The museum had kept the opening under wraps, likely for security reasons.

“In illustrating an increasingly hostile relationship between the feminist art collective and the state authorities, the exhibition offers essential insights into the evolution of Putin’s Russia over the past decade, culminating in the military invasion of Ukraine,” the museum said in a statement.

“Over the years through their artistic practice, Pussy Riot has ingeniously converted the oppressive tools of an authoritarian state into a new collaborative force for creativity, fearlessly taking serious risks.”

On display are handwritten texts, videos and photographs. The exhibition, housed in the former air-raid shelter of the Haus der Kunst, will be open until February 2.

In April, Pussy Riot performed in the Pinakothek der Moderne for a few minutes, where three members of the group denounced Russian President Vladimir Putin as a war criminal to loud music.

Wearing knitted masks over their faces, they condemned the destructive bombs on Ukraine and called for solidarity with the people there. And they made a special gesture of contempt: one of the women lifted her skirt and urinated on a picture of Putin.

The punk band was founded in 2011 and combines its music with harsh criticism of the Russian regime.

Their performance in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow in 2012 became famous, when Pussy Riot members wearing knitted flourescent ski masks protested against the Kremlin’s policies with what they called a punk prayer, and were subsequently arrested.