Pussy Riot on the Olympics (video)

Ashley Wells, Wisdom Quarterly; Amy Goodman, DemocracyNow.org

Olympics in gay Russian resort city Sochi (Adam Pretty/Getty Images/scpr.org)

Welcome, comrades. Read the rules, same as London, plus a few more (mashable.com).

 

Art collective activist Nadia (W)

Two freed members of the Russian activist feminist art collective Pussy Riot made their first public appearance in the United States yesterday after being released from prison (gulag) in December. 

 

Nadia Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, both mothers, served nearly all of their two-year sentences for protesting Russian leader Vladimir Putin inside an Orthodox Christian cathedral in Red Square. Shortly after they arrived in New York, the two Pussy Riot members spoke at a news conference organized by Amnesty International.

 

Arrested members (Fresh Air/WWHY/NPR)

Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman asked them about the upcoming Olympics in Sochi. She also asked, If you each had one question to pose to President Obama and President Putin, what it would be?

 

"In regards to President Obama, I would say it’s not a question, but more of a call, and this call or appeal is to not be afraid to publicly say your thoughts about what you feel is happening in Russia once you are there during your next visit," Tolokonnikova said. "The question to Vladimir Putin: Aren’t you sick of it all?"

 

INTERVIEW
Amy Goodman: Welcome, Masha and Nadia, to the United States. On this eve of the Olympics in Sochi, what message do you have for Americans? And if you had a chance to ask both of our leaders one question, President Obama and President Putin, what would you ask each of them?

 

The Russian Orthodox Church hates P.R.

Maria Alyokhina: [translated] As well as we know, the position of the American political leadership towards the Olympic Games, it’s something like a boycott. But, of course, we’re talking here about the political leadership, not about U.S. citizens who will of course be in Russia during these games. So it’s important to make a statement towards these people, American citizens who will be in Sochi. We would like for Americans to really look at Russia and see Russia beyond the images of Olympic objects and buildings. These objects have no relation to Russia; they are foreign objects in Russia. The only thing which connects these objects to the country is taxpayer money, which has been stolen and which has been used to build up these Olympic objects.

 

P.R. loves PR as in public relations (Bochkarev)

Nadia Tolokonnikova: [translated] So, in regards to President Obama, I would say it’s not a question, but more of a call. And this call and appeal is to not be afraid to publicly say your thoughts about what you feel is happening in Russia, once you are there during your next visit. The question to Vladimir Putin: Aren’t you sick of it all?

Buzzfeed Reporter: So you guys started out as performance artists before becoming the activists that we know today because of your experience. What do you think you can achieve through activism that you couldn’t achieve through performance art? And will we ever see you as artists again? More