Pussy Riot take giant inflatable vulva to the Indiana State Capitol for abortion rights

15 November, 2023

A member of Pussy Riot perform onstage at the 2022 Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival on September 18, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

Pussy Riot have brought a giant inflatable vulva to the Indiana State Capitol while protesting for abortion rights.

READ MORE: Who are Pussy Riot? A guide to the Russian activist group who crashed the World Cup Final

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.”

The activist group shared a video to accompany their capitol protest. The clip shows the group dressed in pink balaclava masks and black slip dresses running around the building’s halls and wave pink smoke bombs.

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 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.”

It continued: “This anti-abortion trend has reached Russia as well. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, wrote a letter to the State Duma with a request to legally ban abortions in private clinics.”

In other news, Pussy Riot recently teamed up with Avenged Sevenfold for the new single ‘We Love You Moar’.

The new track is a reimagined version of Avenged Sevenfold’s song ‘We Love You’ from 2023’s ‘Life Is But A Dream…’, complete with extra guitars and vocals from Tolokonnikova.

Pussy Riot were also awarded the 2023 Woody Guthrie Prize earlier this year.

In a statement, Pussy Riot said of the win: “Today we’ve received the Woodie Guthrie prize. Woody Guthrie is a unique artist who fought against injustice and war with his songs.

“It’s an honour for us to receive an award from Nora Guthrie, a true successor of her father’s work. At this difficult time of the horrible war that Putin started against Ukraine. We promise that we’re gunna fight against this war and Putin’s regime as loud as we can.”

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