Pussy Riot to receive the 2023 Woody Guthrie Prize
The protest art collective Pussy Riot have been awarded the 2023 Woody Guthrie Prize. The coveted prize is awarded annually to an artist who embodies the late anti-fascist folk singer’s “spirit and work by speaking for the less fortunate” and “serving as a positive force for social change.”
Although Pussy Riot’s sound is about as far from Guthrie’s acoustic folk as you can get, the Russian feminist protest and performance art troupe are aligned in their political drive. “It feels fitting to be awarded in the spirit of Woody, I think he would love Pussy Riot’s anti-fascist message,” founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova said in a new statement. “We don’t really do folk, but we don’t really do punk either, we simply scream and protest as loud as we can, and hope we can show others they can do the same.”
“Like Woody said, any fool can make something complicated, our message is clear and simple,” she continued. “Anyone can be Pussy Riot. Riot. Riot. Resist. Oh and a quick reminder to Vladimir Putin and anyone who supports his Z regime… All you fascists are bound to lose.”
Cady Shaw, the director of the Woody Guthrie Center, added, “As artists who, like Woody Guthrie, have the courage of their convictions, there are no contemporary artists more worthy of this recognition than Pussy Riot. They have paid a very personal price for speaking their minds on the most serious issues of our time, yet they continue to fight for justice and freedom.”
Pussy Riot formed in Moscow in 2011 and have been noted for their stoic political protest art, historically seeing the members serve terms in Russian prisons. In February 2022, Tolokonnikova launched an NFT package in aid of Ukraine during the early stages of the Russian invasion.
Last May, Maria Alyokhina, one of the Pussy Riot members, made a daring escape from Russia disguised as a food courier. She had been serving a house arrest in Moscow but was reportedly set to serve 21 days in a penal colony.
Alyokhina, Tolokonnikova, Olga Borisova, and Diana Burkot of Pussy Riot will accept the prize on behalf of the group at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday, May 6th.
Pussy Riot unveiled their debut mixtape, MATRIARCHY NOW, last August and are soon to tour North America and Europe, with dates beginning in April.
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