All Art is a Political Statement will introduce American audiences to the work of Croatian artist Arijana Lekić-Fridrih and, in particular, to her Silent Mass, a performance enacted as a symbol of resistance to the “Be Manly” movement, a series of prayer events held in Croatian squares by men calling for the abolition of women’s rights. Every first Saturday of the month, male followers convene in public squares across Croatia to pray for women’s “chastity” and for men’s “masculine authority."  They assume the posture of kneeling even though the Catholic Church has publicly distanced itself from the group, and Be Manly has nothing to do with the foundational Christian values of love, justice, and compassion and only to do with advancing a conservative agenda. Evidence indicates that they are funded by Ordo luris, an ultra-conservative organization that successfully campaigned in 2021 to deny Polish women abortion rights.

In an act of resistance, artist Lekić-Fridrih regularly stands in front of this battalion of men armed with their rosaries and their rituals. Sometimes she reads a statement about gender-based violence, inequality, and the legislative and daily violations of human rights against women in Croatia. Other times, she stands silently, holding a rose or the Croatian flag. All Art is a Political Statement links the erosion of women’s rights across intercontinental boundaries and offers Lekić-Fridrih’s public performances as a guide for activism and collective action against retrograde restrictions on the freedom of women.