ABSTRACT
The Russian authorities do not recognize the cultural status of Pussy Riot's action in the Christ the Saviour Cathedral. For them, it is a 'hooligan prank'. As an important corollary, public screenings, discussions and collections of such works by public cultural institutions are no longer allowed. This is why the topic of Pussy Riot has not been raised in the Tretyakov Gallery, or in the Russian Museum, the House of Photography or even the National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA). In fact, Pussy Riot's performance was faithful to traditional Russian-Soviet art culture. The government wanted to pose as a punk' is how Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot summed up this policy pivot, explaining the reason why Pussy Riot moved away from actionism. Radical performance has been compromised by its proximity to Vladimir Zhirinovskii, Aleksander Borodai, Motorola (Arsen Pavlov), Igor Strelkov and other extreme adepts of the 'Russian World'.
