Pussy Riot Protest Art NFT Triggers Russian Charges

The Russian government has cited an NFT as evidence of criminal charges against Pussy Riot related “hurt the religious feelings” of the people of Russia, according to a press release issued by the group on Wednesday.

Artist and activist Nadya Tolokonnikova, better known as the face and voice of the Russian feminist protest and performance art group Pussy Riot, has been added to a list of wanted persons by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs. Associated Press reported.

Citing Russian news channel Mediazone— an independent news service and media outlet that Tolokonnikova co-founded — the wire service noted that insulting religious citizens became a criminal offense in Russia following a 2012 Pussy Riot protest. Associated Press said it was reviewing the entry for Tolokonnikova in the Russian Interior Ministry database.

The NFT in the latest case, titled “Virgin Mary, Please Become a Feminist,” depicts the Christian icon framed in what the criminal citation describes as “anatomical details of the female external genitalia,” according to a translation provided by Pussy Riot. The drawing is superimposed on a scan of Tolokonnikova’s arrest papers from the incident in 2012. Pitchfork reported that it reviewed translated legal documents that refer to the NFT in question.

That protest, titled “Putin’s Ashes,” was staged in a Moscow church and was captured in a short film. Pussy Riot was charged with “hooliganism”, and Tolokonnikova spent more than two years in a prison camp.

“Virgin Mary, Please Become a Feminist,” listed on the SuperRare NFT marketplace.

Finding its “hooliganism” law insufficient, Russia passed a new law that adds the religious component and which Tolokonnikova says is better known as the “Pussy Riot Law.” It is under that law that this latest criminal case is being pressed.

“Any truly political artist risks their personal safety for the sake of art — that’s not a new concept to me,” Tolokonnikova said in the release. “But maybe the first time art from an NFT is being used as evidence to try to throw someone in jail.”

The activist says this latest action appears to have been triggered by her latest art exhibit, “Putin’s Ashes,” which debuted at the Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in Los Angeles in January and closed early last month.

“We caught the performance of burning Putin’s effigy and collecting and selling his ashes – he probably didn’t like that,” Tolokonnikova wrote. “I guess we got enough attention to scare him when we gathered allies in the West who were willing to stand up to Putin and also help Ukraine.”

Although her friends and family have been arrested by the police in recent weeks, she says she is not afraid.

“I want to use the tools I have as an artist and crypto enthusiast to keep fighting,” she said. “I’m not a soldier, I’m an artist. Art is my weapon.”

A seasoned artist activist, Tolokonnikova has successfully used decentralized technologies to amplify her influence. She co-founded UnicornDAO in March 2022 and raised over $4 million to support marginalized artists and underrepresented groups in Web3, and in June protested in support of reproductive rights in Texas.

But the biggest target of her ire remains Russian President Vladimir Putin and his war on Ukraine. She was key to the launch of UkraineDAO, which sold an NFT of the Ukrainian flag for more than $6 million to support Ukraine’s resistance and relief efforts.

“We raised even more funds for a frontline unit in Bakhmut with an open edition NFT release with Shepard Fairey,” she notes. “We sent funds on the ground to Ukraine, we saved lives in the first days of the war.”

“They threaten us, but we cannot show fear,” Tolokonnikova added. “Glad to see they’re scared.”