Punk feminist group Pussy Riot is making its bid to take over the controversial Russia pavilion at the Venice Biennale with an exhibition of art by political prisoners. The Russian art collective has been a vocal critic of Russia’s planned comeback to the global art event, which opens next month. Despite a tide of backlash from leading cultural institutions and policymakers, the Biennale’s organizers have supported Russia’s first exhibition since it dropped out in February 2022, just days after invading Ukraine. Pussy Riot is campaigning to oust the group show that will occupy Russia’s pavilion, replacing it with an alternative exhibition that would expose how the country is “once again turning into a gulag,” according to founder Nadya Tolokonnikova . “Political prisoners are the best of Russians,” she said, adding that artists “trapped in this [prison] system” are the ones who are able to express its “fear and suffering.” Anastasiya Dudyaeva, Book Cover . Image courtesy Art Action.…