At the recent WaterFire lighting on August 18th WaterFire fire-tenders sported multi-colored balaclavas and stoked the fires while Pussy Riot’s latest single Putin Lights Up the Fires played for the crowd. While WaterFire’s soundtrack traditionally features classical music, and opera this punk rock song was added to show support for the three members of the band who were recently sentenced to two years in prison for “hooliganism” after being “arrested in March after a guerrilla performance in Moscow’s main cathedral where they high-kicked and danced while singing…”
WaterFire joined a rising tide of support for the band which has included colorful protests in cities around the world, including Moscow and Belfast.
The symbolic act, which was covered by the Associated Press, was described on WaterFire’s facebook page as “a show of solidarity with the concept of artistic freedom of expression and in protest of governments worldwide that seek to stifle it.”
For more information about why you should care about the fate of three Russian riot grrls please read this piece by Keiran Dodds of The Cambridge Union Society.
(Photo by Barnaby Evans)
