Pussy Riot on Political Aktivism through Practice

The artists and Pussy Riot members Lusine Djanyan and Aleksej Knedljakovskij lecture on political activism through their practice and how Russian political art often uses extreme expressions, necessary under a regime where more and more people are silenced and censorship makes it more difficult to reach out.

For Lusine Djanyan and Aleksej Knedljakovskij, the boundary between everyday and artistic activities has always been blurred. Both were part of founding the group Pussy Riot and Aleksej is one of the few male members of the feminist performance group. Experiences are transformed into actions and while Aleksej is primarily an activist, Lusine has a much wider range in her practice with works exhibited at museums and galleries around the world.

She has also taught art at the Institute of Art and Culture in Krasnodar until she got fired because of her involvement in Pussy Riot. After being harassed by the Russian authorities for years, both artists have applied for political asylum in Sweden.