Nadya Tolokonnikova and Masha Alekhina, better known as the public faces of the Russian protest group Pussy Riot, made an appearance at the Michigan Theatre in Ann Arbor on Thursday as part of U-Mich's Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series. Tolokonnikova and Alekhina spoke about their current work in creating MediaZona, a new outlet that will cover the prison system. The two spoke about serving time for performing an anti-Putin "Punk Prayer" in a Moscow cathedral. They also spoke about protest, the power of art, feminism, creating a revolution, and much more.
The best question? Most likely when a student asked, in Russian, what Tolokonnikova and Alekhina's favorite fast food restaurant was. What a stumper! It was also cool to see Tolokonnikova sporting a Patti Smith T-shirt — word on the street it was a gift given from Smith herself during last weekend's Riot Fest in Chicago.
Watch the full video below (or click
here), and check out our interview with
Tolokonnikova and Alekhina.
