Pussy Riot Speak At London’s Southbank Meltdown Festival

Pussy Riot

This weekend, Emely Neu and Jade French presented a panel discussion about their new book which continues the dialogue of feminism and political freedom ushered into a new era by the Punk/Artist collective Pussy Riot. The book contains works by Yoko Ono and 30 other artists. (Watch Video Below)

Joining them on the panel were Fox, a participant in the telelvision series ‘My Transsexual Summer’; Elias Koskimies, Finnish director, writer and producer ‘Beauty Sleep’; Katia from Pussy Riot (via Skype) and two other members of the band who were present and live at the Southbank.

The session took place during Activism Weekend, as part of the Yoko Ono curated Meltdown Festival. The two activists, wanted to remain anonymous for their personal safety, and used a voice pitch changer and their trademark brightly coloured knitted balaclavas to conceal their identities. The two said that they were in Britain as part of a world tour to raise awareness for the jailed members of the group. They have meetings planned with British MPs and plan to visit parliament.

“The conditions in Russia are very inspiring to activism,” member stated. Calling herself Schumacher she added, “We are here to tell people what is happening in Russia; what happened and what continues to happen. These laws are connected to Pussy Riot because they are aimed at the issues we stand for: LGBT rights and gender equality,” a member told the Guardian.

Pussy Riot has gained popular support internationally and in their native Russia after hosting a protest in Red Square, but many Russians thought the protest in a Moscow cathedral was a step too far. “We were aware and prepared for how it would be seen,” said Seraphima. “But there can be no compromise – it is our way of following the things we believe in.”

Watch Video Here

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