Indianapolis, November 14 2023 – Today, Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova led the old-school protest art action GOD SAVE ABORTION at Indiana’s Supreme Court.
GOD SAVE ABORTION is part of a bigger reproductive rights campaign of art actions that Pussy Riot are launching this upcoming year. This first piece is in collaboration with students from Indiana University. The lyrics state: GOD SAVE ABORTION (in English). Virgin Mary please become a feminist (in russian). One can recognize the “Virgin Mary” lyrics from their February 21, 2012 “Punk Prayer” protest.
Nadya Tolokonnikova explains:
“We came to Indiana because we care about the most vulnerable groups of people – womb-holders who exist in the red states. They are neither seen, nor protected. Indiana was the first state to outlaw most abortions after Roe v Wade was overturned.
Even 10-year-old rape victims, and those that support them, like doctor Caitlin Bernard, are subject to harassment and intimidation here in Indiana. I never read the version of the Bible where Jesus mocks and humiliates people who are hurt.
The state supreme courts have become the hand and uncontested voice of god, we protest this by paying homage to Martin Luther and delivering our theses – starting with Thesis №1, GOD SAVE ABORTION.
Our audience is not necessarily people who hate what we stand for, but instead our audience is like-minded people who feel overlooked, unsafe, and unseen. We wish to inspire, organize, and collaborate with these like-minded people, who feel that the government has taken total control of their bodies and their rights.
We work with students – Indiana University in this case – because we want them to vote. Younger population may have lost trust in the system, but we want to inspire and encourage them to take any act of protest – from creating art, to speaking up, to voting for their rights.
I recently saw the dedication of anti-abortion protestors outside a Planned Parenthood clinic – they show up every day. Our side, our group of activists that want to support and provide safety to our most vulnerable people must match and overtake this dedication – we must hit the streets and that is why we chose to make a loud statement here on the steps of the supreme court in Indiana.
Pussy Riot has always meant to bring hope to hopeless situations – whenever I fail to see any hope, I turn to art. It helps me to make my message more loud and clear. Art is like a magic wand, it’s a very special instrument. Resist, organize, find like-minded people. And, most importantly, vote. I know you hate the system that failed you, but it’s in your power to change it, even if it seems otherwise.”
This anti-abortion trend has reached Russia as well. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, wrote a letter to the State Duma with a request to legally ban abortions in private clinics. According to journalists, the letter was received by the State Duma on November 8, and the next day Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin instructed the Health Protection Committee to consider this proposal.
On November 12, Kirill also publicly supported the initiative of the regions that would introduce a ban on “inducing” women to have abortions. The Patriarch called for this initiative to be extended to the federal level. According to him, this measure can increase the country’s population “as if by moving a magic wand”.
DEMANDS
- We demand the separation church and state
- We demand that our voices are heard
- We demand access to LEGAL and SAFE abortion for every person in the United States
- We demand limitations of government control over our bodies
- We demand a Pussy Riot representative to be appointed as an official advisor to each state’s supreme court, as experts on the separation of church and state, as well as the importance of bodily autonomy
ABOUT PUSSY RIOT:
Conceptual performance artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnikova is the creator of Pussy Riot, a global feminist protest art movement. Today, hundreds of people identify as a part of the Pussy Riot community. She was sentenced in 2012 to 2 years’ imprisonment following an anti-Putin performance. Went through a hunger strike protesting savage prison conditions and ended up being sent far away to a Siberian penal colony, where she managed to maintain her artistic activity and with her prison punk band she made a tour around Siberian labor camps. Published a book “Read and riot: Pussy Riot’s guide to activism”. Co-founder of independent news service and media outlet, Mediazona, co-founder of the art-collecting collective Unicorn DAO, instrumental in raising over $7 million for Ukraine, she has spoken before the US Congress, British Parliament, European Parliament, appeared as herself on season 3 of House of Cards, performed at Banksy’s “Dismaland” exhibition. Pussy Riot’s Punk-prayer was named by The Guardian among the best art pieces of the 21st century (“feminist, explicitly anti-Putin, protesting the banning of gay pride and the Orthodox church’s support of the president”),, endorsed by Marina Abramović, Judy Chicago and Ai Weiwei, created an immersive experience in London’s Saatchi gallery, curated the auction “My Body, My Business” at Sotheby’s etc. Her Putin’s Ashes art installation at Deitch Gallery in January 2023 propelled her into a new criminal case and put on Russia’s most wanted criminal list. Pussy Riot stands for gender fluidity, inclusivity, matriarchy, love, laughter, decentralization, anarchy, and anti-authoritarianism.
Live performance date:
12.31 – San Francisco, CA @ Kilowatt Bar
Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova:
https://www.instagram.com/nadyariot/
