Former Political Prisoner Sasha Skochilenko Discusses Liberal Arts, Media, and Surviving Incarceration

Sasha Skochilenko ’17, artist, musician, and former political prisoner, recently spoke in a webinar about her experience studying at Smolny College of Saint Petersburg State University and how her liberal arts education strengthened her antiwar position. These same liberal arts ideals also were reflected in her courtroom speech “Oh yes, life!” on the value of life and reconciliation amidst war and conflict, and helped her to survive her imprisonment. The conversation, held on April 7 at Bard College Berlin, was moderated by Ilya Kalinin, Skochilenko’s former professor and supervisor at Smolny College, currently a Smolny Beyond Borders fellow and Einstein fellow at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Skochilenko, who was born in Leningrad, openly opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was subsequently detained by riot police and later arrested in 2022 for spreading pacifist leaflets under the accusation of “spreading knowingly false information about Russian Armed Forces.” During her imprisonment, she started an “Imprisoned for Peace” performance and participated in exhibitions of prison art. Skochilenko was sentenced to seven years in a penal colony. On August 1, 2024, she was released in Ankara as part of a complex international prisoner exchange, having spent more than two years in prison. She currently lives in Germany.
 
During the discussion, Skochilenko said that studying television production at Smolny helped her to develop a media campaign that buoyed her cause while she was imprisoned.  “All of my study and research of media told me how you can build an icon, a hero, and I used that knowledge to do my public talks,” she said. Drawing on archetypes such as Christian saints, Skochilenko was able to produce a positive public image of herself as a heroine crusading for truth, which was then amplified by media across the globe.   

Skochilenko also said that while in prison, her liberal arts background made it possible for her to explain to an 18-year-old cellmate the writings of French philosopher Michel Foucault, who held that prisons and  other modern systems of discipline were purposefully designed to control individuals and their bodies.

Skochilenko said of liberal arts ideals, “You can not only read, memorize, and conceptualize but also speak about it in very simple words and share this knowledge with people.”

Beyond her activism, Skochilenko published the educational comic A Book About Depression (2014), which quickly became a Russian internet sensation and helped to destigmatize mental health issues in Russia. She also founded the anti-hierarchical musical collective Free Random Jam. Skochilenko will receive Bard’s Laszlo Z. Bito Award for Humanitarian Service in 2025 for her activism and bravery in the face of repression, imprisonment, and adversity.

Further reading:
“Case Study on Sasha Skochilenko: Anti-War Russian Political Prisoner,” prepared by Bard Human Rights major (and former student at Smolny College) Sofia Semenova

Bard and Smolny College Graduate Released from Russia in Historic Prisoner Swap

Post Date: 04-15-2025