Nadezhda Tolokonnikova Instagram – “THIS ART IS A HAMMER THAT SHAPES REALITY”: PUTIN’S ASHES AND NEW POLITICAL FINE ART SERIES AT CONTAINER SANTA FE On June 30, 2023, I took over CONTAINER to create a 5,000 sq. ft. immersive art exhibition, turning it into an activist playground for the international premiere of my conceptual artworks, prison artifacts, as well as the New Mexico premiere of her first short film and original musical score, Putin’s Ashes. New works include “Death By 1000 Cuts” (100 conceptual art pieces), “This Art is a Hammer That Shapes Reality” (23 conceptual art pieces), “HAUNTED!” (sculpture), Drink My Blood” (sculptural collage based on an original copy of Tolokonnikova’s freedom certificate), “Kill The Sexist!” and “Virgin Mary, Please Become a Feminist” (prints). “Putin’s Ashes” short art film was born in August 2022 when Pussy Riot burned a giant portrait of Putin and then collected the ashes into vials to incorporate in ritualistic artworks. The performance landed me on Putin’s Most Wanted list, and instigated an arrest warrant under the Russian “Pussy Riot Law.” I’m exhibiting my prison artifacts, including my prison paperwork and “Drink My Blood” sculptural collage (2021, mixed media: Tolokonnikova’s freedom certificate, needles, blood, stuffed animals) and “Death by 1000 Cuts” (2023) series – framed prison shivs fashioned out of found materials–including prison bars–which were ground to resemble those ground against the cement of the Russian penal colony in which she was imprisoned for “hooliganism.” Conceptual art series “This Art is a Hammer That Shapes Reality”, an homage to Bertold Brecht. Footage by @peacedrone Edited by me Production of the installation: @909system @pryvityavalik