“We still can prevent the world crumbling into autocracy, but it takes determination and courage. Democracy is the most fragile form of human organization, and it’s precious. It needs us to show up for it.”
The Wende Museum opened their doors to more than 800 people to attend a pop-up exhibit on Saturday, March 2, 2024, to see and hear Nadya Tolokonnikova, one of the founding members of the Russian avant garde punk band Pussy Riot. She was there to speak about the murder of Alexei Navalny, and the urgent need to support democracy all over the world.
The art exhibit, a presentation under the colonnade in the garden at the Wende, featured text printed on white jacquard rose patterned fabric, framed in white faux fur. Some were daubed with drops of red paint that seemed to be blood, others were liberally splashed with red, evoking a sense of mayhem. The art was taken from a larger exhibit of Tolokonnikova’s works entitled “This art is a hammer to shape reality,” citing a famous quote from playwright Bertolt Brecht.
“It’s painful to see your friends and colleagues being murdered one by one. The first political death I witnessed was a double murder of two people close to me in 2009. I saw drips of their blood on Moscow snow and I will never forget it. “
Tolokonnikova spoke to the crowd with a passionate urgency to support democracy, and work against authoritarianism. “Help Ukraine win. Help Russian dissidents to fight Putin. And maybe don’t elect a Putin-loving authoritarian narcissist for your president again – trust me, you won’t love it in Putin’s Russia.”
She turned a sharp focus on the recent murder of Putin’s political rival, Nalvany. “Alexei left us a simple message: “I’m not afraid, and you shouldn’t be afraid either”. Ideas, unlike us humans, are immortal. Every autocracy is based on two pillars. It breaks your body and it breaks your spirit. The first one – beatings, prisons, murders – primary goal of all these is to break your body. The second one is more hideous, and more dangerous in a way, it targets your soul and results in broken spirit, which manifests in self-censorship, learned helplessness, compliance, apathy.”
She said that she is often asked what can be done. “The simple answers: First, aggressive sanctions against Putin’s circle, second, support Ukraine with any and all resources they need and third, support @yulia_navalnaya in getting accountability for the murder of her husband.”
Judith Martin-Straw
