The Pusi Wright group appeared in 2011. However, the world fame brought her action in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, which was regarded by many Russians as an insult to their religious feelings. Despite this, some stars and human rights activists in the West, as well as in our country, stood up for the members of the collective, most likely without even being familiar with the group's work and their views broadcast through various actions. So what is the Pusi Wright group, who are its members and what do they see their mission in?
Project History
The origins of the group’s creativity should be sought in the activities of the Riot Grrrl, a feminist movement of the 1990s that has much in common with punks subculture. At the beginning of the 21st century, it underwent significant changes, and its participants began to organize women's music festivals and provide all sorts of assistance to girls in difficult situations.
In the spring of 2011, several young artists, after a discussion about Riot Grrrl, decided to create an art project that was similar in spirit to this movement, and in November the group’s first non-professional video clip appeared on the network. A few more months passed, and an application was submitted to the relevant authorities with a request to register the name Pussy Riot as a trademark. According to the group’s lawyer, Nikolai Polozov, this was done to protect against the use of its name for defamatory purposes.
“Pusi Wright”: translation
Even the name of the group provoked outrage among the conservative-minded part of Russian society. After all, the phrase “Pusi Wright” translates from English has several meanings:
- the most intelligent translators believe that it means “velvet” or “gentle revolution”;
- there is also an opinion that “Pusi Wright” is “rebellion of kitties”;
- some people prefer to understand it as “rebellion of pussies,” while agreeing that the last word in this context is used in an obscene sense.
In addition, there are several obscene translation options that are inappropriate to cite in articles intended to be posted on serious resources.
Principles of the project
When it comes to the next Pusi Wright campaign, it’s almost impossible to say who exactly this is. The fact is that the project does not imply a permanent membership, and the girls try to keep their names secret. This is connected with the choice, if I may say so, of stage costumes, part of which is invariably a balaclava of bright color, completely covering the face and head. Girls turn to each other by pseudonyms, which they sometimes change in order to confuse others. Pusi Wright participants organize their performances in various crowded places so that as many people as possible become their audience, as well as with the goal of “breaking the public’s perception of the role of musicians in the modern world.”
What is known about the composition of the team
The aliases of the members of the group that have become public are: Balaclava, Squirrel, Reins, Blondies, Sparrow, Manko, Garadzha Matveyeva, Cat, Chowder, Seraphim, Puck, Terminator, Tyur, Hat and Schumacher. As the Pusi Wright members told reporters (it’s hard to say exactly who it was), other girls who support the ideas that they transmit to the world through their songs can speak at any time in the team.
2012 Punk Prayer
Until 2012, few people in our country, and even more so in the world, knew about the Pusi Wright feminist group. Who is this, many wanted to find out only after the so-called punk prayer. His group organized on February 21 at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior. As it turned out, the Pusi Wright group performed in the church, or at least tried to perform, earlier. In particular, on February 19, members of the group tried to arrange a rally in the Epiphany Cathedral in the city of Elokhov. Both actions cannot be called anything other than hooligan, since the country is full of places where you can express your political views. One cannot but agree with the fact that no other religion would be so tolerant of such hooligan antics as Orthodoxy. But this should not mean that you can be so disrespectful to the feelings of a significant part of the citizens of Russia, who consider themselves Christians.
During both actions there was a video shooting, the results of which were then mounted in a two-minute video posted on the network.
Trial of group members
In general, in the world of punk bands quite often became outrages of public peace. They were also often held administratively liable. However, the trial, or the so-called “Pusi Wright case” (only a few knew who it was until 2012), had an unprecedented public outcry, which was also fueled from abroad.
In early March 2012, two project participants were arrested - N. Tolokonnikova and M. Alekhina, and after 2 weeks - E. Samutsevich. Independent opinion polls have shown that at that time most of the citizens of our country believed that the members of the group were worthy of punishment, but only 16 percent of the respondents demanded that they be taken into custody. The verdict for the girls was issued in August 2012. He was rather severe, as he assumed a two-year stay in a general regime colony, and this despite a number of extenuating circumstances. In particular, many human rights activists pointed out that it should be taken into account that the girls at that time had young children. As a result of the consideration of the complaint against the verdict, the court replaced the real punishment for Samutsevich with a suspended sentence, but upheld the sentence for the other two members of the punk group.
Prison and post-release activities
While in the women's colony, Pusi Wright participants decided to take up the protection of the rights of prisoners in Russian prisons. They reported this after being released as a result of an amnesty declared to the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the current Russian Constitution. They decided to call their joint project N. Tolokonnikov and M. Alekhin “The Zone of Law”, and in one of the interviews they noted that he was much more interested in them than punk prayers.
Songs
As for the creativity of the group, it, according to critics, from a musical point of view is not of particular interest. The most famous songs “Pusi Wright” are “Mother of God, Drive Putin away!”, “Kropotkin-vodka” and “Putin will teach you to love your homeland”. The last song was performed several times by members of the team during the Olympic Games in Sochi. These actions provoked a negative reaction from representatives of the IOC, who said that such major sporting events should not be turned into a platform for expressing political protests. By the way, during one of such performances, girls in balaclavas with batons and lashes were attacked by Cossacks patrolling the streets of the city together with police representatives. They were indignant at the fact that the Pusi Wright participants tried to overshadow the most important sports festival that Russia had been waiting for since the 1980 Olympics.
Where is Pusi Wright now?
More recently, after some lull, new information about the activities of this group appeared in the domestic and foreign press. In particular, it became known that the girls shot a video in English called I Can't Breathe. It is dedicated to the death of an African American strangled by police during his arrest in the summer of 2014. The name of the song is translated as “I can’t breathe” and in the video N. Tolokonnikov and M. Alekhin, dressed in the form of the Russian OMON, are buried alive, falling asleep. In addition, back in 2014, members of the group created the Mediazone website, which was dedicated to the protest movement in the country and freedom of speech. Thus, it can be stated that the girls have become more serious, and their actions will be less shocking.
Now you know some information about Pusi Wright (who they are, what they do, how and why they became known) and you can decide for yourself how to relate to their shares.