David Byrne to present Nadya Tolokonnikova with Dynamic Achievements in the Arts Award at forthcoming benefit

On 16 May, Nadya Tolokonnikova, artist, activist, and visionary behind Pussy Riot will present a benefit for the American Folk Art Museum in New York City. Joining her is David Byrne, who will present Tolokonnikova with the Dynamic Achievements in the Arts Award, celebrating her work as a self-taught artist. The evening will feature a performance from Tolokonnikova, as well as an in-depth conversation with Brooklyn Museum's Carmen Hermo. Byrne joined the benefit for the Museum last year in 2023 which included the artist and musician Lonnie Holley, as well as the Sun Ra Arkestra, and Suzanne Vega.

"I'm a fan of what is often referred to as "outsider art." Definitions and categories are tricky…This year's benefit event will feature an amazing and surprising combination of artwork, music, and performance by Nadya Tolokonnikova, the creator of Pussy Riot. Much like the artists in the Museum's collection, Nadya identifies as a self-taught artist and is not restricted by creative, social and cultural boundaries. She is also politically brave - an all-too-rare quality for many of us," says Byrne.

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Nadya Tolokonnikova will also be debuting a new performance project, code named PUSSY RIOT - SIBERIA, which she teased on X, formerly known as Twitter.

"For me, Pussy Riot has always been an expression of primal rage that is also informed by my beginnings in the Moscow Conceptual Underground," she says. "I will be channeling that rage into a metaphysical system of punishing sound waves, pure and transcendent. We aim to produce a tower of sound as black and brutal as Norilsk, the Siberian city where I grew up, a tower of sound to reach up into the sky and annihilate the ills of the world. It’s an honor for the first public performance of this to be with David Byrne’s introduction, as he has always challenged what it means to be an artist, musician, performer.