In 2012, Alyokhina made headlines around the world when she was imprisoned after Pussy Riot performed their punk prayer, Virgin Mary, Banish Putin, inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. She spent nearly two years in a Russian penal colony.
Prison did not silence her. After her release, Alyokhina returned to protest and artistic activism as political repression in Russia intensified. She was repeatedly arrested, placed under house arrest and, in May 2022, facing a new prison sentence, escaped Russia disguised as a food-delivery courier.
Her new book, Political Girl: Life and Fate in Russia, is at once memoir, testimony and a manifesto of resistance: an account of grassroots dissent, friendship, courage and the determination to keep speaking when silence would be safer. For this special Falmouth appearance, readings from the book will come together with music and conversation, with fellow Pussy Riot member Eric J. Breitenbach.
She will reflect on the experiences behind Political Girl, the role that performance and spectacle have played in Pussy Riot’s activism, and what it means to make art in a society where dissent can carry an enormous personal cost.
There are some people whose lives take them to places most of us will only ever encounter through news reports. This is a rare opportunity to spend an evening in Falmouth with one of them, and to hear that story in her own words.
About Maria Alyokhina
Author of Political Girl
Maria Alyokhina is a political activist, artist and founding member of Pussy Riot. In 2012 she was sentenced to two years in prison following Pussy Riot’s punk prayer in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. After her release she continued her artistic and political activism despite repeated arrests and increasing repression. In May 2022, facing a new prison sentence, she escaped Russia disguised as a food-delivery courier. Her books include Riot Days and Political Girl: Life and Fate in Russia.
