"On February 21, 2012, five members of a Russian feminist punk
collective Pussy Riot staged a performance in the Cathedral of Christ
the Savior in Moscow. Dressed in brightly colored tights and
balaclavas, they performed their punk prayer, asking the Virgin Mary to
drive out Russian president Vladimir Putin from the church. After just
forty seconds, they were chased out by security. Three members of the
collective, Maria Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina
Samutsevich, known as Masha, Nadya, and Katya, were later arrested and
charged with felony hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. As their
trial unfolded, these young women became global feminist icons,
garnering the attention and support of activists and artists around the
world.
Pussy Riot! is an essential document of this galvanizing historical
moment. It includes letters from prison, courtroom statements, defense
attorney closing arguments, poems, the infamous punk prayer, and
tributes by Yoko Ono, Johanna Fateman, Karen Finley, Justin Vivian
Bond, Eileen Myles, and JD Samson."