GQ manages to interview Pussy Riot on their new life in prison

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GQ manages to interview Pussy Riot on their new life in prison

When the Russian government arrested three members of the female punk collective Pussy Riot, it only gave the group a voice and an international platform. It only managed to make Russia look like a bunch of thugs. And now that they’re in prison, Pussy Riot is far from being silenced. GQ magazine managed to speak to the three Rioteers to talk about their new life on the inside.

GQ: What is your average day like now? How do you get the news from the outside?

Masha: They have small, medium, and large cells here. We’re in three different small ones. Only the large cells have in-room showers; we get showers once a week. After 6 a.m., you’re not allowed to sleep under a blanket. Theoretically, until lights-out at 10 p.m., you’re not allowed to sleep at all, but in practice you can lie on top of the blanket and cover yourself with your coat. Nobody can explain why; the only answer you hear to any question is “That’s the rule” and “We keep to a regimen here.” Every day there’s an hour-long walk in a “yard,” which is a concrete box with two benches and a sliver of sky between a cement wall and a plastic roof. It’s all “Hug the wall” this and “Hands behind your back” that. They search our cells regularly and confiscate our drawings and notes. Why? “The rules.” Pretty much the only news we get is from federal TV channels. Only now do I realize the sheer amount of lies and censorship there. When you have the Internet, you don’t feel it as sharply. But once a week our lawyers bring us different news, words of support, and that helps a lot.

Nadya: Prison is a good place to learn to really listen to your own mind and your own body. I’ve learned to read much more deeply, for instance. For four months, I had nothing to read but the Bible, so I read it for all four months—diligently, picking everything apart. Prison is like a monastery—it’s a place for ascetic practices. After a month here, I became a vegetarian. Walking in circles for an hour in that tiny dusty yard gets you into a pretty meditative state as well. We don’t get much in the way of the news. But enough to get inspired.

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