Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova led the protest art action GOD SAVE ABORTION at Indiana’s Supreme Court, to fight for reproductive rights.
ADVERTISEMENTRussian feminist protest and performance art collective Pussy Riot have been spotted brandishing a giant 10ft-tall inflatable vulva outside the Indiana State Capitol earlier this week in the US.
The group are continuing their fight against the state’s Supreme Court and its anti-abortion policies with GOD SAVE ABORTION, which is a new Pussy Riot song and part of a bigger reproductive rights campaign of art actions that Pussy Riot are launching.
This first piece is in collaboration with students from Indiana University.
Following the US Supreme Court’s controversial reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, Indiana has implemented a comprehensive prohibition on abortions.
In a statement shared by Pussy Riot leader Nadya Tolokonnikova said: “Pussy Riot has always meant to bring hope to hopeless situations - whenever I fail to see any hope, I turn to art. It helps me to make my message more loud and clear.”
She continued: “Art is like a magic wand; it’s a very special instrument. Resist, organise, find like-minded people. And, most importantly, vote. I know you hate the system that failed you, but it’s in your power to change it, even if it seems otherwise.”
Along with their latest protest, Pussy Riot have added the following demands:
- We demand the separation church and state.
- We demand that our voices are heard.
- We demand access to LEGAL and SAFE abortion for every person in the United States.
- We demand limitations of government control over our bodies.
- We demand a Pussy Riot representative to be appointed as an official advisor to each state’s supreme court, as experts on the separation on bodily autonomy.
"Not speaking out means that you're letting somebody else define your interests."
The activist group shared a video to accompany their capitol protest.
The video’s description included a message by Tolokonnikova that read: “We came to Indiana because we care about the most vulnerable groups of people – womb-holders who exist in the red states. They are neither seen, nor protected. Indiana was the first state to outlaw most abortions after Roe v. Wade was overturned.”
The statement continued: “The state supreme courts have become the hand and uncontested voice of god, we protest this by paying homage to Martin Luther and delivering our theses – starting with Thesis №1, GOD SAVE ABORTION.”
