It goes without saying that Nadya Tolokonnikova would be one of our people of 2017. Hell, she’s been one of our people of the year, all year, every year, since Pussy Riot — her Russian feminist punk rock collective — exploded into the public consciousness with a performance inside Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 2012; a protest against Orthodox Church leaders’ support for Vladimir Putin during his election campaign.
Nadya was sentenced to two years imprisonment for that 40 second act, subjected to solitary confinement, forced labour and regular beatings. Coming at a time when social media was just beginning to change the nature of modern protest, she became an international cause célèbre, gaining the support of everyone from Bjork to Aung San Suu Kyi. Released under a newly passed amnesty bill in 2013, she’s spent the subsequent years continuing to stick two fingers up to Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and pretty much anyone who stands in the way of good old fashioned progress.
This year, that meant freaking out the Sloanies of Chelsea with an immersive art show at London’s storied Saatchi Gallery. Titled Inside Pussy Riot, it encouraged the audience to chuck on a balaclava and stand up for the future they want to see. For Nadya, that means a 2018 in which people use their imaginations to create alternative realities for colourful and powerful change everywhere. It apparently also means seeing Donald Trump naked. Oo-err. Now, where can we get an eyeless balaclava…