Pussy Riot: über Putins Tränen und den Gedanken, dass Kunst die Welt verändern kann.

Der Auftritt von Pussy Riot am Sonntag um 18.30 Uhr auf dem Rudolstadt Festival zog viele Zuschauer an. Auf der Bühne gab es Marija Aljochina, Diana Burkot, Olga Borisova und Anton Ponomarew zu sehen. Die Darbietung selbst war gleichwohl Konzert als auch Kunst Performance. Beeindruckend und einmalig beim Rudolstadt Festival ohnehin, das mit der Verpflichtung der feministischen, regierungs- und kirchenkritischen Russinnen auch eine starke Botschaft an seine Fans, Besucher und in die Welt sendet.

(In Vorfreude auf das Rudolstadt Festival 2023 haben wir diesen Artikel noch einmal in unseren News nach oben gezogen. Anm.d.Red.)

Anders als andere Festivalheadliner, luden Pussy Riot nicht so sehr zum Tanzen und Mitmachen ein. Jedoch, es gibt Wichtigeres vor dem Hintergrund Putins Unterdrückung und Manipulation des eigenen Volkes und des im Februar gestarteten Überfalls auf die Ukraine. Nach Rücksprache mit dem Manager Alexander Cheparukhin hatten wir die Möglichkeit nach dem Auftritt Backstage mit Pussy Riot zu sprechen. Dort trafen wir zunächst auf den Saxophonisten Anton und schließlich auf Olga.

Festivalhopper: Anton, how did you get inside Pussy Riot? What is the story behind it?

Anton: This tour is the first time. I knew girls from years but I have never played with them before. I am completely from different… No, how to say. I am a musician, but I am playing in kind of Avant-Garde features experimental music that’s what I am doing. I have never worked in this kind of performance shows. I never danced I am just playing with my band mates. By the way the Erfurt is not really far from here and I played once when we had three years ago a European tour with one of my bands.

Festivalhopper: What is the name of the band?

Anton: The band is called Brom like this chemical element.

Festivalhopper: Do you think that Putin is crying a bit when he hears that you are touring now around Europe?

Olga: I don’t think that he is crying but I would like to make him cry though. That’s why we talk about the tribunal that we want for him because you know I want to have an example to stop wars as a thing in general to have you know such example that if you start a war if you kill innocent people this is what is gonna happen with you. I don’t know if he is crying or not but our goal… we don’t think about it but we want to stop this war and talk about this war and do what we can especially with our fame of the name Pussy Riot. So, we have media attention. So, we have privilege to talk about this and the least what we can do it’s you know to talk about this and raising money. So, we do what we can.

Festivalhopper: Would Putin be even capable of crying?

Olga: Mhhh…yeah…He seems very… like a psychopath at some point not with shaming his diagnosis if he has one… but yeah because to do such cruel things you can’t imagine him as a real human being. Yeah, but I think he would cry. He is… you know… what he cares about is his power, freedom and money. So, he would cry about it, I think.

Festivalhopper: At the beginning of your concert, I was directly in front of the stage and it was very emotional for me because I think all of you have a very strong facial expression and it shows a lot of strength! It is astonishing that you can be so strong.

Olga: I think that people in Russia right now that are protesting, like Russian actors right now, they are strong. You know, Ukraine is strong. We are now in Europe and it is safe. And, yeah, it is not that brave… it is not a lot of I think bravery to talk about obvious things like the war. But in Russia right now for example one man his name is Alexey Gorinow he got seven years of prison for just saying that it is not a special military operation but it’s a war. He got seven years in prison! And he knew that he will be prosecuted, and this is like you know strong. This is strength to know the cost of it but still fighting!

Festivalhopper: Your manager Alexander is also an organizer of festivals?

Olga: In the past. Because of Putin’s regime and he supports Pussy Riot he lost all this… You know because before he was working on very big festivals in Russia. He was bringing stars to Russia and great musicians. But after he decided in 2012 to publicly support Pussy Riot, he lost all his contracts and work in general.

Festivalhopper: One of his festivals called “Creation of Peace” that he organized in Kazan! So, I hope to he will have a chance in the future to organize more festivals. Maybe somewhere else!

Olga: Yeah, we hope that it will be. This time we had problems with subtitles and video. And this is very sad because you know… we talk in Russian. And it is one hour of Russian speech.

Festivalhopper: I saw the subtitles, but I was in the front and not in the back. I heard from Anton already that the idea was that you have some projections?

Olga: Yeah, because it is supposed to be video art of all Pussy Riot actions, documentation from Pussy Riot actions and all different good stuff and also you know with the right subtitles and translations. So, yeah. And for me it is amazing to see all this crowd staying and listening you know Russian speech not understanding what is going on. I mean in the back and in the middle as well. So, this is like fascinating. Yeah, and I am very thankful for the audience that they stayed because I guess they felt that it is important. Everyone wants to participate and because usually you see video art because it it’s a big big crucial part of our show as well.

Festivalhopper: When it comes to festivals, I have one last question. Now you are touring with the band. Have you ever been to a festival as a visitor?

Olga: I am not a big fan… Because sometimes I have social anxiety to think of to be inside the crowd for me. It’s like very claustrophobic. But I do visit some concerts. Usually, it’s my friends’ concerts but I like the idea you know that people can come and visit many stages and listen to different kind of music and I hope that… I believe that art can change the world and it is great to feel solidarity with people as you know the crowd just staying and not going anywhere. Yeah, I believe in this when I see it, it gives me hope.

Festivalhopper: One more question for our music-addicted reader: what is your favorite band or musician?

Olga: I really like King Krule. It’s a British Indie project, I guess. I really like them. They are very melancholic and dark. Yeah, I guess that is my favorite one for now.

Bereits vor dem offiziellen Interview mit Pussy Riot ergab sich mit Anton zufällig ein längeres Gespräch im Backstagebereich. Dabei ging es um die Welt, die Kunst, das Leben, Bier und über das Buch „Pussy Riot – Tage des Aufstands“ auf welchem die Show beim Rudolstadt Festival basierte. Der ursprüngliche Plan war es die Autorin des Buches und das mitunter bekannteste Mitglied von Pussy Riot Marija Aljochina ebenfalls zu interviewen. Dieses Buch gab es nach der Show am Merchandisestand mit Signatur von Marija. Da der Ansturm darauf sehr groß war, konnte sie nicht mehr zum Interview dazustoßen.