SPARKS: Nadya Tolokonnikova – Life As Art, As Activism

08/24/23 • 9 min

1 Listener

How can injecting ideas into art create meaningful direction?

Nadya Tolokonnikova is perhaps known best for being a musician and founding member of the group Pussy Riot - but would describe themself primarily as a conceptual artist and political activist.

Nadya was jailed in their home country of Russia in 2012, following a performance in Moscow Cathedral. Amnesty International named them a ‘Prisoner of Conscience’.

For Nadya, concepts and ideas come first. Joy and mental health should all form part of activism, and we have the power to create our own future.

Disclaimers:

This podcast contains some use of strong language.

This Spark has been created using material recorded online during the pandemic - so the sound quality varies in places, but this shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying the material.

Presentation by: Nadya Tolokonnikova

Pussy Riot News: Pussy Riot to receive the 2023 Woody Guthrie Prize (faroutmagazine.co.uk)

Music by Pussy Riot: Pussy Riot - YouTube

Produced by: Unboxed - a UK-wide festival of creativity that brought together Arts, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEAM).

Brought to you by: The RSA - the royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce. Where world-leading ideas become world-changing actions. Subscribe for new episodes weekly and visit our website to find out more about our Design for Life mission and our global changemaker community - the RSA Fellowship: theRSA.org

How can injecting ideas into art create meaningful direction?

Nadya Tolokonnikova is perhaps known best for being a musician and founding member of the group Pussy Riot - but would describe themself primarily as a conceptual artist and political activist.

Nadya was jailed in their home country of Russia in 2012, following a performance in Moscow Cathedral. Amnesty International named them a ‘Prisoner of Conscience’.

For Nadya, concepts and ideas come first. Joy and mental health should all form part of activism, and we have the power to create our own future.

Disclaimers:

This podcast contains some use of strong language.

This Spark has been created using material recorded online during the pandemic - so the sound quality varies in places, but this shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying the material.

Presentation by: Nadya Tolokonnikova

Pussy Riot News: Pussy Riot to receive the 2023 Woody Guthrie Prize (faroutmagazine.co.uk)

Music by Pussy Riot: Pussy Riot - YouTube

Produced by: Unboxed - a UK-wide festival of creativity that brought together Arts, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEAM).

Previous Episode

SPARKS: Professor Anil Seth – Dream Machine

How can collective artistic experiences help us to understand how our minds work?

This short audio Spark introduces the Dream Machine – one of ten UK-wide projects from Unboxed.

Anil Seth is Professor of Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience at the University of Sussex and co-director of the Sackler Centre for Consciousness Science; he also wears other hats including Editor-in-Chief for a leading neuroscience journal and he’s a best-selling author.

In this neurologically soothing Spark, you can enjoy some of the atmospherics of a twenty first century Dream Machine - and the words of Professor Seth - as he explains how new frontiers in neuroscience are being crossed in this collaborative space between Arts and Sciences.

With atmospheric music by Jon Hopkins.

Disclaimer: This Spark has been created using material recorded online during the pandemic - so the sound quality varies in places, but this shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying the material.

Presentation by: Anil Seth – Neuroscientist

Music by Jon Hopkins: Jon Hopkins

Dream Machine: About - Dreamachine

Produced by: Unboxed - a UK-wide festival of creativity that brought together Arts, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEAM).

Next Episode

SPARKS: Malcolm Gladwell – Mini-Sparks

When can constraint be a good thing?

And why should we learn to trust, in order to maximise creativity?

Malcolm Gladwell is a journalist, author and public speaker. Malcolm’s enquiring mind and capacity to communicate complex ideas very clearly has made him a best-seller across many book titles.

In this sequence of mini-Sparks, Malcolm considers the beauty of constraint, the role of story in ideas and how trust and creativity are intrinsically linked.

Disclaimer:

This Spark has been created using clips recorded online during the pandemic - so the sound quality varies in places, but this shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying the material.

Presentation by: Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm’s Books: Malcolm Gladwell – Home | Malcolm Gladwell (gladwellbooks.com)

Produced by: Unboxed - a UK-wide festival of creativity that brought together Arts, Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEAM).