Pussy Riot founder Nadya Tolokonnikova co-curated "Resistance Imprisoned," a protest exhibition at Ritsch-Fisch Galerie in Strasbourg, France, featuring artwork created by people currently or formerly imprisoned in Russia, including Ukrainian civilians. The show opened April 19 and runs through May 31, timed to coincide with the first month of the Venice Biennale, which opens May 9. Works include a pen sketch by Lyudmila Razumova, a photojournalist arrested for anti-war graffiti in 2022 and serving a seven-year sentence, alongside pieces by other political prisoners and Ukrainian POWs. The exhibition aims to highlight the human cost of Russia's war and its participation in international cultural events.
The exhibition matters because it directly challenges Russia's presence at the Venice Biennale amid ongoing international condemnation of its invasion of Ukraine. It coincides with a written declaration by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) condemning Russia's attendance and calling for imprisoned artists' work to be shown. Notably, the Venice Biennale jury recently announced it would refrain from considering countries whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, effectively excluding Russia and Israel—a move Tolokonnikova called "a good small step." The show reframes art as an act of resistance and survival, using modest prison-made works to provoke discomfort and political awareness rather than aesthetic pleasure.