The Russian protest art collective Pussy Riot received the Woody Guthrie Prize during a ceremony at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday night. The award is given out annually to someone an artist that “best exemplifies Guthrie’s spirit and work by speaking for the less fortunate through music, film, literature, dance, or other art forms and serving as a positive force for social change.”
“Today we’ve received the Woodie Guthrie prize. Woody Guthrie is a unique artist who fought against injustice and war with his songs,” Pussy Riot wrote in a statement posted on their social media accounts shortly after receiving the award. “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.”
A handful of Pussy Riot members, including Masha Alyokhina and Olga Borisova, were on hand to accept the prize. Nadya Tolokonnikova appeared in a video message, saying: “I wanted to thank you so much for giving Pussy Riot this award. It’s a great honor for us. I know that if we all come together, we can fight the evil. ¡No pasarán!”
A couple days ago, Pussy Riot put out a new song, “Chastity,” with Boys Noize and Alice Glass.
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