Russian Punk Legend Pussy Riot Gives Trump a Special Performance

Donald Trump’s real estate holdings have provided excellent venues for pranksters, performance artists, and activists of all stripes. The Russian activist punk band Pussy Riot is using Trump’s Russia controversies to draw attention to the plight of political prisoners – and they know of what they protest.


“Pussy Riot storms Trump Tower”
by Gabrielle Fonrouge
The New York Post
October 24, 2017

Pussy Riot is at it again.

The infamous Russian feminist punk rock group, clad in bright dresses and wool masks that covered their faces, stormed Trump Tower on Monday night to protest the incarceration of political prisoners.

Hidden behind their usual makeshift balaclavas, this time in green, pink and purple, the women unfurled a massive sign from an upper floor of the 58-story skyscraper that said “Free Sentsov” and dropped what appears to be a series of photographs, [the] video shows.

Frantic security guards rushed up the stairs to stop the girls, who were not arrested for their actions as portions of Trump Tower are open to the public.

“We”re calling on you today to raise attention to two guys from Ukraine: film director Oleg Sentsov and anarchist Olexandr Kolchenko, who are in Russian prison right now. Sentsov got 20 years in prison, Kolchenko got 10 years. Because they, like you, did not sit by “” they were fighting for their freedom in Crimea, which was annexed by Putin,” the bad-girl group posted on Facebook.

“We decided to do an action right now, while we are in New York, with activists here because we believe there are no borders to our solidarity.” Read more.

Trials & Tribulations for Russian Art Collective Voina

Voina Art Collective Donates Banksy”s Money to Political Prisoners
by DJ Pangburn
Death + Taxes
March 28, 2011

When Voina Collective members were imprisoned for a prank involving overturning police cars, Banksy donated money for the cause. Voina then paid some of the money forward to other political prisoners.

Guerrilla art pranksters Voina are holding firm in their belief that high-concept, high-risk tactics are necessary, especially in a place as given to authoritarian tendencies as Russia.

When we last looked into the group in December, members Oleg Vorotnikov and Leonid Nikolayev had been imprisoned for a stunt in which several Moscow police cars were overturned. Banksy heard of their beatings and imprisonment, and donated $130,000 to the group from a print sale, then paid their bail of $10,600. Once released, they were followed and beaten by mysterious men who claimed to be police.

An unknown percentage of the sum donated by Banksy was then donated to Voina”s political prisoner friends, according to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. According to the Voina website, one of Vorotnikov”s cellmates, Old Man Serioga, was released on March 26th.

Read the rest of this article at Death+Taxes.