Pussy Riot Are Screening Their Anti-Putin Film At a Dallas Gallery

Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova knows the effects her art has on people. Since forming the Russian feminist art collective in 2011, Tolokonnikova has unapologetically advocated for reproductive healthcare, LGBTQ+ rights and racial and social equality, and has been outspoken in her opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Earlier this month, Tolokonnikova brought her short film, Putin’s Ashes, to the Dallas Contemporary.

Putin’s Ashes is based on a Pussy Riot performance that took place in August 2022. During the performance, a group of women burnt a large portrait of Putin and cast spells upon him, with the goal of driving him away from leadership.

We chat with the geographically anonymous Tolokonnikova via Zoom shortly before the film’s launch at the Contemporary, and she reveals that the project was born out of “desperation.” Having been a vocal critic of Putin since 2007, she can’t help but feel that she is partially to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“It's heartbreaking that we were not able to be strong and effective enough to get him out of office before he would start a full-scale invasion in Ukraine,” says Tolokonnikova. “There are a lot of people to blame, most obviously Putin himself, but I blamed my own ineffectiveness.”

Tolokonnikova has long been open about her struggles with major depressive disorder, anxiety, panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder. But putting together Putin’s Ashes — the performance and the short film — was a good outlet for her to launch those feelings outward instead of inward, in keeping with the advice of every psychiatrist to whom she’s ever spoken.

But addressing these emotions produced an outpouring of triggers, which posed a challenge curating the performance and the film.

“I hate Putin’s face, and I never want to look at him,” says Tolokonnikova. “I don't really think about him as human being anymore. I think he has stepped way too far on the side of evil. But we all felt like this kind of retraumatization also has healing properties, because we transformed our anger and pain into something positive. We hope what we've done has magic properties, and we actually can help the world to get rid of this cancerous tumor that was pushing us.”

Putin’s Ashes premiered earlier this year at the Jeffrey Dietch gallery in Los Angeles. Since then, Tolokonnikova has been determined to take the film to art institutions around the world. But her work has not come without controversy.

Shortly after the initial August 2022 performance, Tolokonnikova was placed on Putin’s Most Wanted list, leading to an arrest warrant under what's referred to as the “Pussy Riot Law.” The law decrees that "insulting people's religious feelings" can result in jail terms and fines in Russia.

Despite the aftermath, Tolokonnikova and Pussy Riot remain determined to advocate for social justice — which explains why she was determined to have the film screen in a state like Texas, where reproductive rights have been borderline nonexistent for the past year.

“It’s part of my ethos,” says Tolokonnikova. “I'm from a small, provincial city in Russia, where a lot of people didn't understand my interest. I was a feminist and outspoken about LGBTQ+ rights, and I just felt absolutely isolated and alone. I hope that if we can create this open space for people like us to see each other, come together, and maybe form some connections, maybe their lives will be a little bit better.”

Putin’s Ashes will screen at Dallas Contemporary, 161 Glass St., until Jan. 8.