Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia is the first survey exhibition of the infamous feminist art collective Pussy Riot. Formed in Moscow in 2011, Pussy Riot came together in opposition to their country’s increasingly authoritarian government. The exhibition features vivid documentation of the group’s performances and street activism as assembled by member Maria (Masha) Alyokhina. Visitors encounter more than fifty courageous actions, and how Russia’s repressive state apparatus was turned into a “non-consensual” creative partner, boldly playing with fire.
In Punk Prayer, an early and now legendary guerilla performance staged inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in 2012, Pussy Riot took over the alter to perform a blistering song in response to the upcoming re-election of Vladimir Putin. Three of the collective’s members – Alyokhina, Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich – were subsequently arrested, charged with “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred,” and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in penal colonies. In the eyes of Putin’s spiritual advisor Bishop Tikhon Shevkunov, the punishment was fitting: “… all of this is more than hooliganism, more than just banal anti-clerical acts, as people are wont to call it. This is a new reality of our life: ‘velvet terrorism.’”
Through videos, photographs, testimonies, song lyrics, and reflections, the exhibition offers a rich account of Pussy Riot’s non-violent actions, alongside the reactions of the Russian authorities to their provocations. In illustrating an increasingly hostile relationship between the group and the state authorities, the exhibition provides key insights into the evolution of Putin’s Russia over the past ten years, leading up to the military invasion of Ukraine.
Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia was originally presented at Kling & Bang (Reykjavik). Created by Maria Alyokhina and curated with artists Ragnar Kjartansson and Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir, the exhibition has been shown at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Denmark and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.
The exhibition catalogue as well as a selection of books about Pussy Riot are available at The Diane Evans Bookstore.
Guided Tours take place every Saturday at 1:30pm
About the artists and organizer
The Pussy Riot collective has been recognized with the 2012 LennonOno Grant for Peace, the Hannah Arendt Prize in 2014, and most recently the 2023 Woody Guthrie Prize, which honors the spirit of resistance through music, literature, dance or other forms of art. In 2019, Punk Prayer was named one of the 25 most important artworks of the 21st Century by The Guardian newspaper.
Maria Alyokhina is the author of the book Riot Days, which describes her time in a penal colony in Russia following her highly publicized trial in 2012. She is currently working on her second book, while touring Riot Days, a mixture of concert, rally, theatre and political happening.
Content advisory: This exhibition contains explicit language and graphic protest images staged for the camera. Effects include flashing lights, loud sounds, and fast-moving video in a densely structured area.
Gallery hours
WEDNESDAY 10:00AM – 5:00PM
THURSDAY 10:00AM – 9:00PM
FRIDAY TO SUNDAY 10:00AM – 5:00PM
101 Carrie Cates Court. North Vancouver, BC V7M 3J4
Situated on the unceded territories of the Skwxwú7mesh, Tsleil-Waututh, and xwməθkwəýəm Nations.
The Polygon Gallery continues the forty-year reputation of Presentation House Gallery in engaging the public with the most visionary artists of our time. A new waterfront landmark on Vancouver’s North Shore, The Polygon offers a one-of-a-kind space to encounter contemporary visual art with a focus on photography.
