Pussy Riot showed solidarity on “No Kings” Day, participating in the march in Los Angeles on Saturday. They joined the demonstration while displaying a red banner that read, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Russia.”
The march in downtown Los Angeles drew about 20,000 people, and was one of 2,000 locations that held “No Kings” Day protests against the president, who has deployed the National Guard and the Marines to L.A. over protests opposing his administration’s aggressive raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The protests were held on the same day Trump threw an expensive military parade on his 79th birthday in Washington, D.C.
Pussy Riot co-founder Nadya Tolokonnikova’s “Police State” installation at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA was postponed Sunday, when the National Guard was deployed. “Due to evolving conditions in downtown Los Angeles and the proximity of The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA to ongoing demonstrations and military activity near the Los Angeles Federal Detention Facility, the museum has made the decision to adjust its operating hours and event schedule out of concern for the safety of staff and visitors,” MOCA said on its website. The 10-day exhibit was originally set to conclude tomorrow, with a panel and performance of Siberia. The rescheduled dates have not yet been released.
In a statement regarding Pussy Riot’s participation in the “No Kings” march, Tolokonnikova reflected on Russia and the current state of the world in relation to her exhibit. “It’s not quite a penal colony here, but a halfway house,” she said. “Once again, when I write a statement or a song, a demon on my left shoulder is whispering: ‘How much is too much? Will this get you jailed or not quite yet??’ The answer is – idfk. When the law is being used not to protect freedoms, put to punish – selectively and voluntarily – those who speak out, no lawyer can tell you what’s safe, and what’s not. As my Russian lawyer used to say, “Nadya, stop asking me what’s safe – if you want to be safe, leave Russia.”
Tolokonnikova said that she refused to leave her home country, until she realized “If I stayed, I’d spend the rest of my life behind bars.” She added that Russian President Vladimir Putin promised “safety and stability” and instead is “waging the bloodiest war in modern Europe.”
“It’s beginning to feel a lot like Russia…. Everywhere you go,” she continued.
“My job as an artist is to interpret those feelings. I felt that tingle for a bit now, that is why I did the POLICE STATE exhibit,” she said. “The walls are closing, the camera systems are getting AI upgrades, you have to censor what you say or unidentified masked men will show up at your home, at your work, at your church. One day, leaving the museum, I stepped into an actual police state – rows of police assaulting peaceful protesters.”
“I guess you could say it’s my first artistic collaboration with the United States Military,” she concluded. “Now we are on the street protesting alongside people who believe immigrants make America great.”
