Das Laut Kollektiv ist eine studentische Initiative der Zeppelin Universität und gründete sich Anfang des Fallsemesters 2019 aus der früheren Initiative BeBrave heraus.
Als feministische Initiative der Universität sehen wir es als unsere Aufgabe an, eine Plattform aufzubauen, die die Möglichkeit für Diskussionen über feministische Themen und Fragestellungen bietet. Wir stellen somit die Initiative der Zeppelin Universität für Feminismus und gegen sexualisierte Gewalt dar.

Da das Laut Kollektiv seinen Namen vor allem mit dem Gedanken gefunden hat, anderen eine Stimme zu geben, die ihre noch nicht gefunden haben, und es eines unserer Kernthemen ist, auf Missstände hinzuweisen und für andere einzustehen, haben wir PUSSY RIOT für einen Talk und eine Fragerunde an die Universität eingeladen. Ein paar ihrer neueren englischsprachigen Songs sowie auch ihre älteren vor allem russischen Songs verweisen auf soziale sowie politische Missstände und provozieren damit alte Strukturen, die es aufzubrechen gilt.

Wir als Kollektiv sehen in einem Talk von PUSSY RIOT die Möglichkeit, mehr Leute auf Feminismus aufmerksam zu machen und Leute für das Thema zu begeistern. Der Rahmen der Zeppelin Universität bietet hierbei eine gute Möglichkeit, diesen Talk zu halten und mit PUSSY RIOT ins Gespräch zu kommen.

Maria Vladimirovna Alyokhina (Russian: Мария́ Владим́ировна Алёхина) is a Russian political activist. She is a member of the anti-Putinist all-female art collective Pussy Riot. On August 17, 2012, she was convicted of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred” for a performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. She has been recognized as a political prisoner by the Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners. Amnesty International named her a prisoner of conscience due to “the severity of the response of the Russian authorities.”
At the time of her arrest, Alyokhina was a fourth-year student at the Institute of Journalism and Creative Writing in Moscow, where she participated in the literature courses of Dmitry Vedenyapin and Alexey Kubrik. She is a published poet. She has been involved in environmental activism with Greenpeace Russia, opposing development projects in the Khimki Forest, and was a volunteer at the Children’s Psychiatric Hospital in Moscow. Her son Filip was born in 2008. She is a vegan and reportedly collapsed from hunger during the trial, as no vegan meals were provided in detention.

She played an active role in the Pussy Riot trial, crossexamining witnesses, and aggressively questioning the charges and proceedings. She said in her closing statement:
For me, this trial only has the status of a “so-called” trial. And I am not afraid of you. I am not afraid of lies and fiction, of the thinly disguised fraud in the sentence of this so-called court. Because you can only take away my so-called freedom. And that is the exact kind that exists now in Russia. But nobody can take away my inner freedom.
Alyokhina was released from prison on December 23, 2013 under an amnesty bill passed by the Russian Duma, allowing the release of several inmates. Following her release, Alyokhina and fellow Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova announced their intention to campaign for prisoner’s rights in Russia.On 6 March 2014, she was assaulted and injured at a fast food outlet by local youths in Nizhny Novgorod.
Zona Prava (“Zone of Rights” or “Justice in The Zone” ) is the human rights project (mostly focused on prisoners’ rights) founded by Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova in January 2014, right after their release from prison. The media portal of Zona Prava has become now one of the most powerful human rights online media in Russia.

ALEXANDER CHEPARUKHIN (Producer/Translator)
Alexander Cheparukhin is a Moscow music producer, presenter, artistic director of international music and theatre festivals, and journalist. Cheparukhin played an active role in coordinating broad international support of Pussy Riot during their periods of imprisonment.
Holder of a doctorate in Environmental Economics, for much of the 1980s he was an activist and researcher - President of the Association for the Support of Ecological Initiatives (ASEI); a presenter at the Moscow session of the World Commission of Environment and Development (WCED); and reporting for the German and Austrian press, where he gained exclusive access to leading opposition figures like Boris Yeltsin and Vytautas Lansbergis.
The dissolution of the USSR in 1991 led to Sasha registering one of the first Russian international tour operators, GreenWave, taking tour groups to the Caribbean and the USA, including as an official tour agent for the 1994 World Cup. It was this American connection - and an invitation from renowned ethnomusicologist Ted Levin - that led him to switch full time to music management and booking.
When Pussy Riot were jailed, he felt that he had to use his connections to international musicians and media outlets to help the artists. He initiated and co-organized an international support seminar at the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo (October 2012), where he appeared as the first panel speaker. He garnered support from Paul McCartney, Peter Gabriel, Patti Smith, John Lydon, Sting, Billy Bragg, among others.
After their release, Cheparukhin helped members of Pussy Riot to establish and manage international connections: organizing their tours to Germany, Norway and Denmark; facilitating visits to several prisons in Norway and Denmark; arranging meetings with the Prime Minister of Norway, ministers and members of parliament of Norway and Denmark. He has also accompanied them on US tours, and appears tonight as their translator.
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Bildnachweis: CC BY-SA 3.0, Pussy Riot by Igor Mukhin