The Russian feminist performance art collective Pussy Riot is set to be the subject of a new scripted TV series about its cofounder Nadya Tolokonnikova. The activist is an outspoken critic of Putin and, earlier this year, she was put on Russia’s most-wanted list for making “obscene” NFTs.

The limited series will be developed by STX Entertainment from Tolokonnikova’s forthcoming memoir. Her life has certainly been eventful: born in the Siberian arctic town of Norilsk, she became involved in performance art after moving to Moscow in 2007 and cofounded Pussy Riot in 2011. The group began organizing unauthorized live performances of political punk music and wearing brightly colored balaclavas.

In 2012, Tolokonnikova and two other Pussy Riot members were arrested during a performance of “Punk Prayer” at Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior. She was convicted of “hooliganism” and sentenced to two years at a labor camp. Soon after her release, the group held another protest at the Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 and were attacked with whips by Russian Cossacks.

“I was a broke 20-year-old artist studying philosophy, [Putin] was one of the most powerful, wealthy and dangerous men on Earth,” said Tolokonnikova, according to Deadline. “In 2011, I went against him, damn the consequences. After years of imprisonment, harassment, attacks, trauma, I am ready to share this story.”

“Today I’m on Russia’s most wanted list, labeled as a foreign agent, and recently was arrested in absentia by Russian court,” she added. “My relatives and friends had been poisoned, my government wants me dead, but I don’t regret anything. If Pussy Riot’s story can inspire a new generation of rebels, it was all not in vain.”

Earlier this year, Tolokonnikova staged the gallery show “Putin’s Ashes” at Jeffrey Deitch in Los Angeles. Russia seemed to retaliate by putting her on its most-wanted list for Virgin Mary, Please Become a Feminist, an NFT sold on SuperRare in 2021.

Her work is currently being presented by Jeffrey Deitch at Art Basel Miami Beach and Carroll Turner at Art Miami until December 10. 

Tolokonnikova has previously been the subject of multiple documentaries, including Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer and Pussy versus Putin (both 2013).

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