One brave music collective this year did something beyond the stage, beyond the recording studio, which continues to reverberate around the world.
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If you think that the notion of an Artist of the Year is cliche, irrelevant, gauche and even pointless, well you are neither wrong nor alone. At Vivascene, however, where the idea of awarding an Artist of the Year, though not mandatory, certainly seems to be an editorial prerogative … we just needed to define the term artist. For the record, we do not mean the sexiest, twerkiest, or most Tweetable celebrity. We are not interested in viral fandom, most YouTube hits or Google searches. These are not the metrics we associate with artistry. Rather, we discussed bravery and conviction (literally!), as well as artistic vision and merit. Once this definition was agreed upon we quickly realized there was only one candidate; only one collective who did something beyond the stage, beyond the recordng studio. Vivascene is proud to honour a band whose contributions in 2013 will reverberate for decades to come … Pussy Riot.
February 21st, 2012. Five members of a politically-charged music and art collective, known as Pussy Riot, stage a musical protest inside a Moscow church. At issue were charges of legislated discrimination against women by the state. Filmed footage would later emerge on social media channels under the title ‘Punk Prayer – Mother of God, Chase Putin Away.’ Within a week, three women (Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alyokhina and Yekaterina Samutsevich) are arrested. Samutsevich was later freed on probation. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina were sent to separate prisons, where they remain today.
Russia, a nation steeped in blood of revolution and dissent, has not come as far from Stalinist repression as Vladimir Putin would like us to believe.
The jailed activists of Pussy Riot, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina, were of course unable to record any music in 2013. But as the press ran stories about Kanye West‘s real and faked boasts of his genius, the story of Pussy Riot raged on. For weeks this fall, Tolokonnikova was missing, feared dead by her family, representatives and concerned human rights watchers. After a prolonged and well-documented hunger strike (a common occurence in Russian jails), she was moved to a hospital with no word sent to her family. When it was determined that she was in a Siberian hospital some weeks later, we all breathed a sigh of relief.
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Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina are being used by the state as examples of what dissent will earn you in Russia. As the country prepares to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in February and the FIFA World Cup in 2018, the strong-arm tactics of the Russian State is unrelenting. Even as news broke this week about a possible release for Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina (among thousands of others) as early as next March, one cannot help but be skeptical.
In the spirit of singer-activists from Pete Seeger to Al Weiwei, Pussy Riot is upholding a tradition that goes beyond the limits of punk rock: the activist who uses music or art to convey their message of opposition will always be upheld by Vivascene as arbiters of justice, truth and proaction. We solemnly hope that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina are freed immediately and that they be reunited with their families.
And as long as the Russian state continues its war against free speech and the rights of its citizenry to protest peacefully are impinged, Vivascene stands by Pussy Riot and all the jailed dissidents around the world. We stand with Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina in these days and hours as their freedom – hopefully – creeps towards actualization. They have done more in their imposed silence and their bravery in captivity than a generation of liberated pop stars ever could.
Vivascene joins the chorus of voices, (Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono and Madonna among others), Amnesty International and Julian Assange in denouncing the trial of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina. Whether Vladimir Putin reads this article or ignores it as Leftist hooey, we are resolved in our admiration for the members of Pussy Riot, most especially Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina as they languish in prison. May freedom’s light illuminate the path of their release.
Brothers, let us glorify freedom’s twilight –
the great, darkening year.
Into the seething waters of the night
heavy forests of nets disappear.
O Sun, judge, people, your light
is rising over sombre years– Osip Mandelstam