Photo: Courtesy of HBO. Attention, all girl groups! Two highly outspoken female musicians are looking for employment. They are Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, the once-jailed members of Russian punk band Pussy Riot.
Since being released from prison, where they were held for openly protesting Russian president Vladimir Putin, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova have been on a major publicity blitz in the U.S. To wit: their recent appearances on The Colbert Report and alongside Madonna at an Amnesty International benefit concert at Brooklyn's Barclays Center.
Well, it looks as though the other six members of Pussy Riot haven't taken too kindly to the pair's ascent to mainstream. In an open letter, the remaining bandmates write that Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova have strayed from the “ideals of our group — feminism, separatist resistance, fight against authoritarianism, and personality cult.”
The sextet, who pride themselves on their counterculture ethos, took particular issue with Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova's appearance at The Barclays Center, writing, “Our performances are always illegal, staged only in unpredictable locations and public places not designed for traditional entertainment.”
In what looks like an attempt to end on a high note, the letter states: "The world has acquired two brave, interesting, controversial human rights defenders." Whoops, not too fast: "Unfortunately, we cannot congratulate them with this in person, because they refuse to have any contact with us." Whatever the case, let's hope everyone keeps marching to the beat of her own drum. (BBC)