Pussy Riot, Nadya Means Hope

The Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts (CIRCA) presents a new work by renowned women’s rights activist, Pussy Riot (Nadya Tolokonnikova). Launching on International Women’s Day (8 March – 5 April 2023) on London’s Piccadilly Lights and across a global network of digital billboard screens, Nadya Means Hope coincides with an all female-identifying auction which will support sexual and reproductive health and rights organisations including Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Influenced by the landmark overturning of Roe v. Wade on 24 June 2022 – an historic Supreme Court decision which had granted women the right to an abortion in the United States since 1973 – Tolokonnikova responds to the CIRCA 20:23 manifesto ‘Hope: The Art of Reading What Is Not Yet Written’. With the name Nadya or Nadezhda meaning “hope” in many Slavic languages, the punk icon sparks a global conversation surrounding patriarchy at a time when women’s rights are being challenged all over the world.

Pussy Riot (Nadya Tolokonnikova), notes  ➳

The pain of so many reverberates across the globe – women in the USA watch their grand daughters born with less rights than they themselves had, brave protestors in Iran facing death and jail, and the endless atrocities in Ukraine. 

But in this violent crescendo of suffering, can we as humanity begin to trust to hope, or has it truly forsaken us?

I see the bravery of young women in Iran, of the entire unbreakable spirit of the nation and people of Ukraine, of young activists who continue to fight. 

For the aggressors, I wish them no hope, only oblivion… may hope be the exclusive boon for those that fight on the side of truth, of justice and of peace.

Characteristically dressed in a white balaclava, Tolokonnikova stares definitely into the camera before striking a match and lighting the tip of an Eggplant emoji (?) candle-sculpture in the video. The new 2.5 minute video work created especially for CIRCA 20:23 arrives 11 years after Nadya was sentenced to two years in prison for performing a punk prayer in protest against the Russian Orthodox Church’s support for Vladimir Putin, and voicing strong feminist lyrics.

In March 2022, Tolokonnikova helped raise $7.1 million for Ukraine relief with the sale of a 1/1 NFT depicting the Ukraine flag. Twelve months later and, building on her commitment to create art that challenges existing power structures, promotes gender equality, and celebrates the diverse experiences and perspectives of women, the purple wax candle-sculpture titled Fragile Masculinity Genesis will be auctioned at Sotheby’s as part of the online sale ‘My Body My Business’ (7 – 14 March).

Marina Abramović, comments ➳ “I couldn’t be happier to see Nadya and CIRCA collaborate. I support every woman’s decision regarding planning parenthood.”

Curated by Tolokonnikova and featuring donated works from Jenny Holzer and Marina Abramović, the auction coincides with Planned Parenthood and Endaoment’s recently launched PPFA.eth – a wallet that will enable donors to direct their crypto donations to support the fight to ensure that people have access to the care and resources they need to make informed decisions about their bodies, their lives, and their futures.

Nadya Tolokonnikova is an artist, activist and founder of the feminist protest collective Pussy Riot. Working at the intersection of performance, music, visual art and political action, her practice challenges authoritarianism, censorship and systems of power, transforming acts of resistance into works of cultural significance. For more than a decade, she has been one of the most recognisable voices advocating for freedom of expression, gender equality and human rights.

Born in Norilsk, Siberia, Tolokonnikova co-founded Pussy Riot in 2011, a radical feminist art collective whose interventions combined performance, protest and political critique. International attention followed Punk Prayer (2012), the anti-authoritarian performance that led to her imprisonment in a Russian penal colony. Rather than silencing her, the experience became a catalyst for an expanded practice spanning art, writing, music and activism. Through projects that move fluidly between galleries, public space and digital platforms, Tolokonnikova has continued to explore how creativity can become a tool for dissent, solidarity and social change.

Nadya’s relationship with CIRCA reflects a shared belief in the power of public art to confront urgent political realities. In 2023, she presented Nadya Means Hope, a major public commission broadcast across CIRCA’s global network of screens. Combining personal testimony with a wider call for resistance and collective action, the work transformed public space into a platform for dialogue about freedom, courage and the responsibilities of citizenship. Alongside the commission, CIRCA published 50 One Dollar Bills, a large-scale screen print that reimagined the iconography of American currency through the lens of feminist activism, with proceeds supporting the Art Riot Fund.

Named among TIME Magazine’s most influential people and recognised internationally for her artistic and political activism, Tolokonnikova continues to redefine what art can achieve in the public sphere. Whether through performance, publishing, music or direct action, her work insists that creativity is not separate from politics, but one of its most powerful instruments.