Art and Protest in Putin's Russia

The Pussy Riot protest, and the subsequent heavy handed treatment of the protestors, grabbed the headlines, but this was not an isolated instance of art being critical of the regime. As this book shows, over recent decades a significant counter-culture in the art world has been gradually emerging which satirises and ridicules the regime, putting forward alternative values through art. The book traces the development of art and protest in recent decades, discusses how art of this kind engages in political and social protest, and provides many examples of art as protest. The book concludes by discussing the importance of art in facilitating new social values and prompting political protests.

Lena Jonson is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Russia Research Program at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm

1. Introduction 2. A History of Dissensus, Consensus and Illusions of a New Era 3. An Other Gaze in Art 4. Art on Trial 5. Dissent in Art 6. Art of Engagement: A Counterculture in the Making 7. Political Action 8. Art and Protest After Bolotnaya 9. Conclusions