Founding members of the art collective Pussy Riot and Zona Prava, Nadezhda (Nadya) Tolokonnikova and Maria (Masha) Alyokhina, will be in Ann Arbor on September 18 to give a lecture, “Punk Prayer,” as part of the Penny Stamps Distinguished Speaker Series. Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina are Russian conceptual artists and political activists. In August 2012, following an anti-Putin performance in Moscow Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, they were sentenced to two years imprisonment. Since their January 2013 release from prison, they have advocated for prisoners’ rights in Russia and worldwide. Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina are Lennon Ono Grant for Peace recipients.

Pussy Riot is a feminist punk guerilla performance collective of approximately 11 women. Their unauthorized public performances address feminism, LGBT rights, and opposition to Russian President Putin.

Zona Prava (Justice Zone) is a prisoners’ rights NGO that Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina founded in March 2014. The goal of Zona Prava is to aid those in prison who are ready and willing to fight for their rights. The organization provides information, legal representation, safety monitoring, advocacy, and oversight. In September 2014, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina launched an independent Russian news service, MediaZona. Building on the mission of Zona Prava, the news outlet will focus on courts, law enforcement, and the prison system in Russia.

Penny Stamps Speaker Series Director Chrisstina Hamilton notes, “We welcome the opportunity to host PussyRiot/Zona Prava in Ann Arbor—a community with a long history of activism that recognizes the potential of art as a change agent in political culture.”

In addition to the public lecture, Tolokonnikova and Alyokhina will meet with members of the U-M Prison Creative Arts Project, an on-campus program with the mission to collaborate with incarcerated adults, incarcerated youth, urban youth, and the formerly incarcerated to strengthen our community through creative expression.

The lecture will take place on Thursday, September 18, 2014, at 5:10 p.m. at the Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, MI. Admission is free and open to the public. The lecture will be presented by the Stamps School of Art and Design and the Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies, with additional support from the Institute for Research on Women and Gender.

Established with the generous support of alumna Penny W. Stamps through the Stamps School of Art & Design, the Speaker Series brings respected emerging and established artists and designers from a broad spectrum of media to conduct public lectures, inspire collective dialogue, and engage with students, faculty, and the larger University and Ann Arbor communities on a weekly basis. For more information, visit stamps.umich.edu/stamps.

The Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies (WCED) combines academics with practical applications, promoting scholarship to better understand the conditions and policies that foster the transition from autocratic rule to democratic governance, past and present. It also educates new generations of practitioners who can apply their learning and experience to help extend democratic freedoms. Named in honor of Ronald and Eileen Weiser and inspired by their time in Slovakia during Ambassador Weiser’s service as U.S. ambassador from 2001-04, WCED began operations in September 2008. For more information, visit ii.umich.edu/wced.

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Contact:
Chrisstina Hamilton
Penny Stamps Speaker Series
734.764.3464
chrissti@umich.edu
OR
Rachel Brichta
Weiser Center for Emerging Democracies                                      
734.764.0351                                                             
weisercenter@umich.edu