Pussy Riot to Barents

The contemporary art exhibition by curator Andrei Erofeev includes work by 40 Russian artists. Named “Pussy Riot and the Cossacks” the exhibition is inspired from the event during the Sochi Winter Olympics, where members of the punk group Pussy Riot were whipped by Cossacks before a performance.

Cossacks are known for representing the conservative forces in Russia, known for attacking alternative art exhibitions. Art activism has long traditions in Russia, and is now under Putin’s regime even more relevant, according to the organizers of the exhibition to open in Boden next month.

Curator Andrei Erofeev is one of Russia’s leading art historians. In 2007, he was arrested for the exhibition “Forbidden Art” held at the Sakharov Museum. The prosecutors argued that the exhibition was “debasing the religious beliefs of citizens and inciting religious hatred. In the controversial exhibition, he presented a collection of art works banned from previous exhibitions. To avoid the possibility of offending believers, all works were put behind a curtain with one hole in it so that visitors wanting to see the art works had to peep through the hole.

After being banned in Moscow, the exhibition was moved to Paris.

In Boden, Erofeev will display protest artists from five decades like the socialist arts of the 70’s and 80’s by Vitaly Komar, Aleksandr Melamid, Vyasheslav Sisoev, Dmitry Prigov, Boris Orlov, Aleksandr Kosolapov and Leonid Sokov. The 90’s are represented by Oleg Kulik, Anatoly Osmolovsky and Aleksandr Brener.

Modern contemporary art is represented by groups like Blue Noses and Pussy Riot. The exhibition opens on June 28 and lasts until end of September.