On May 6, Russia’s Pussy Riot will be honored with the 2023 Woody Guthrie Prize. The Woody Guthrie Center’s 10th Anniversary Celebration will take place on May 5-7, and the award presentation will be located at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa, Arizona.
Marking the Eastern European band’s American debut, the all female act will perform Riot Days multimedia show following the ceremony.
Band members Maria “Masha” Alyokhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova will accept the prize on behalf of Pussy Riot. presented by Nora Guthrie, Woody’s daughter. And following the ceremony, the musicians will be interviewed by Robert Santelli, executive director of the Bruce Springsteen Archive and Center for American Music.
The annual Woody Guthrie Prize is presented to arts who best exemplify Woody 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. Prior recipients of the award include Joan Baez, Chuck D, Kris Kristofferson, Norman Lear, John Mellencamp, Pete Seeger, Bruce Springsteen, and Mavis Staples.
In a statement about the prize, Cady Shaw, director of the Woody Guthrie Center said “As artists who, like Woody Guthrie, have the courage of their convictions, there are no contemporary artists more worthy of this recognition than Pussy Riot.” “They have paid a very personal price for speaking their minds on the most serious issues of our time, yet they continue to fight for justice and freedom.”
Proceeds from the event will benefit the non-profit Woody Guthrie Center, that opened its doors in April of 2013. In addition to Pussy Riot’s performance, the weekend will also include a concert by Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, with Sarah Lee Guthrie and Bobby Carradine, on May 7.
Earlier this year in Los Angeles, Pussy Riot staged the Pussy Riot: Putin’s Ashes, art installation and last month, sources in the Russian media reported that Tolokonnikova may face criminal charges in Russia for the presentation. about which she told Rolling Stone “My job is to hurt Putin as much as possible, and [the threat of lawsuits] means that he and people around him are actually getting hurt by Putin’s Ashes, so that’s great news,” “I’ll keep doing my work and keep pushing.”
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Author: Saul Goode
Photo: Denis Bochkarev