Pussy Riot: "We're All Pioneers"

Censorship can be tricky, but it can also give the art an unintended explosive power.




(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)

Panel debate (video recording): Art and Censorship Panel (2015)

Should art have the goal of political change, and can censorship of art be turned into something groundbreaking? I am left with such reflections after watching a video from 16. December 2015, when the Art Gallery Art Net White Box in New York organized a panel debate on art and censorship in collaboration with the Dukley Art Center in Montenegro. The punk singer and activist Masha Alyokhina from Pussy Riot was among the panelists, and the occasion for the debate was the opening of the New Balkan Women's Museum's Museum in Montenegro, an international museum to be about, for and with women.

Aristotle believed that man was one son politician, a political being. The question many have asked is whether all art is necessarily political, whether art should always have political change as its goal – or its possible political consequences.

For many, the answer is an obvious yes, especially if the artist comes from a country characterized by censorship and persecution of vulnerable social groups. Activist artists can cause social change by putting international search and pressure on governing forces acting in violation of human rights, or by inspiring other actors to take the baton further.

In cartoon form, censorship is often depicted as an individual gagged with a scarf around his mouth (though most who have tried know that it is possible to make a wide register of sounds in gagged state). What would they have said if they had the opportunity, and why has anyone bothered to gag them? The lace itself often contributes to the interest in the artist's message, an undesirable side effect of the lace man. Precisely Pussy Riot's fight against Putin's regime is an example of the censorship's unintentional conveyance – to the inspiration and imitation of lesser-known artists and activists.

Power and censorship. In addition to Masha Alyokhina from Pussy Riot, Russian gallerist and art director Marat Guelman participated in the panel. Both are among the initiators behind the museum. In addition, multi-artist Carolee Schneemann, art critic Eleanor Heartney, performance artist Martha Wilson and artist Dread Scott, who were asked to share experiences of being censored, participated.

Marat Guelman stumbled into the profession as the Soviet Union's first art dealer in the 1990s, and started provincial Russia's first modern art gallery, the Perm Museum of Contemporary Art (PERMM) in the Ural city of Perm. After disagreements that ended with the Russian government breaking the contract, he moved to Montenegro in 2014. According to Guelman, Russian female artists are less compliant than their male counterparts. He has supported Pussy Riots Masha Alyokhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova in the work on the book How To Start A Revolution (expected to be released in 2017). "We are proud to be able to help these smart, kind and brave girls," he concludes, patting Masha on the shoulder. New York's art audience laughs: Guelman does not seem to perceive the condescending gesture, which does not harmonize well with the intentions behind the women's museum he promotes.

Dread Scott finds it more interesting to discuss what kind of art is subject to censorship. As a student at a little-respected art school in Chicago, in 1988 he aroused vigorous reactions with the photo exhibition What Is The Proper Way To Display An American Flag? The pictures showed South Korean students burning the American flag, and then-President George Bush senior condemned the exhibition. Dread Scott believes that the president's reaction testifies to the power of art and the vulnerability of great powers: Even an unknown art student can cause an entire people to question their loyalty to the American flag. In his view, attempts at censorship reveal that the authorities are not able to answer for their crimes and abuses of power, such as the slavery practice and genocide on which the United States is founded.

In Masha's eyes, religion is a surrogate for nationalism, xenophobia and tyranny.

Punk prays. Feminist icon Carolee Schneemann has missed out on a number of teaching positions due to the erotic content of her art. Yet she has never regretted: She believes that the world needed eroticized representations of the female body as a counterweight to the hostility of women and the alienated relationship to the female body that characterized the United States in the 1950s. Performance artist Martha Wilson has also used the female body as a means of social change in the 1970s, among other things by exhibiting photographs of breasts and staging herself in various female roles: Goddess, Housewife, L og Professional. After installation Carnival Knowledge, exploring the question of whether feminist pornography is possible, she felt that financial support was withdrawn from the National Endowment for the Arts, following pressure from the Morality Action Committee.
TopShot-RUSSIA-POLITICS-TRIAL-RIGHTS-CHURCHThe censorship problems of American panelists inevitably fade alongside Pussy Riot's young troublemaker Masha, who became internationally known after she and other group members were jailed for two years after a 2012 concert at Moscow's Savior Christ Cathedral. The concert was stopped, and later turned into a music video with the unambiguous title Punk Prayer – Mother of God, Chase Putin Away! The punks were convicted of "vandalism motivated by religious hatred", but the purpose of the concert was to criticize the Orthodox Church's leaders for homophobia and their support of Putin during the election campaign.

The highlight of the panel debate smiles shyly at the audience and apologizes for her poor English while expressing admiration for the Americans' ability to hold international solidarity mass demonstrations with 50 participants. "Russians do not feel it is their problem if something happens in the United States," she sighs. She herself wants artistic and political cooperation across national borders, something she believes the new women's museum in Montenegro can contribute to.

Pioneering People. In Masha's eyes, religion is a surrogate for nationalism, xenophobia and tyranny. She believes that the Russian Orthodox Church is acting as an extension of Putin's government, a body of power to suppress free speech. Marat Guelman adds that the Russian administration maintains lists of censored individuals. "Artists who fight against censorship are responsible for the only real political activity in Russia," he states.

Towards the end of the debate, a woman in the audience, obviously an artist herself, remarks that everyone on the panel is a pioneer and role model, and asks how she can best follow in their footsteps. Masha responds quickly: “We are all pioneers, it is not a role that should be assigned to a few. The moment we give up our power, we become like irresponsible children. We have to make things ourselves, and if we are censored, we have to find new ways of talking. This probably sounds naive, I'm aware of that, but… »A woman in the hall shouts« No! », And the applause breaks out.

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