The organizers tried on Sunday to contact the pair, who disappeared late on Friday night ahead of a planned performance on Saturday. A notice later appeared on the group’s website claiming that the two women had never intended to appear at the festival, as the group does not announce performances in advance.
The two women, who live outside Russia and wanted to remain anonymous by wearing brightly coloured balaclavas, had been booked to appear on stage and at several discussion events over the weekend to promote a new book on freedom of speech in Russia.
The World Village festival’s communications director, Mika Railo, said that organizers had tried to confirm the women were safe. They had been unable to contact the performers and had no information on their current location.
Railo said that the women had gone through the weekend’s programme on Friday evening, even discussing details of their planned appearance with members of the Finnish band PMMP. He said there had been speculation that there were differences of opinion within the group on how to handle publicity.
