Origins

Pussy Riot members Pussy Riot was a collective formed in August 2011, their name being two English-language words[21] written in the Latin rather than Cyrillic. The title usually appeared thus in the Russian press, but sometimes the name was transliterated as "Пусси Райот". The group was composed of some dozen performers and about 15 people who handled the technical work of shooting and editing videos that were posted on the Internet. Tolokonnikova, her husband, Pyotr Verzilov, and Samutsevich were members of the anarchist art collective "Voina" from the group's early days in 2007, until an acrimonious split in 2009. Following the split, they formed a separate Moscow-based group, also named "Voina", saying that they had as much right to use this name as Voina founder Oleg Vorotnikov.[22]

Musical and performance style

Costumes

Costumes were usually brightly colored dresses and tights, even in bitterly cold weather, with faces masked by balaclavas. During interviews they used nicknames such as "Balaclava", "Cat", "Seraph", "Terminator", and "Blondie".[28]

Ideology

Songs and videos

Legal problems

Trial reactions

Trial aftermath

Subsequent court cases and other events

In popular culture

Pussy Riot members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina appeared in House of Cards season 3, episode 3 as themselves. The episode also features Pussy Riot concert footage. [274] [275]

season 3, episode 3 as themselves. The episode also features Pussy Riot concert footage. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova appeared in artist Fawn Rogers' "I Love You And That Makes Me God". [276]

In 2016 the Norwegian songwriter Moddi released a cover version in English of the song "Punk Prayer" by Pussy Riot in his album Unsongs.[277]

See also