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Book tour – Arijana Lekić-Fridrih: All Art is a Political Statement

During events in Croatia hosted by PROSTOR, Domino Association, and the University of Split, Rebekah Modrak will introduce audiences to the work of artist Arijana Lekić-Fridrih as a model of protest against coordinated strikes against women’s rights. Join us for readings of the newly published Arijana Lekić-Fridrih: All Art is a Political Statement (Disobedience Press, 2024):

— May 5, 2025 (7pm): Rebekah Modrak and Arijana Lekić-Fridrih, “Christian Nationalism and Public Protest,” Culture Hub Croatia/PROSTOR, Split, Croatia.

— May 9, 2025 (8pm) Rebekah Modrak and Arijana Lekić-Fridrih, “Political Art and Public Protest,” Domino Association, Zagreb, Croatia.

— May 15, 2025 (12pm): Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Split, Split, Croatia.

The essay introduces audiences to the work of Lekić-Fridrih and, in particular, to her Silent Mass, a performance resisting the “Be Manly” movement, a series of mass prayer events held in Croatian public squares by a battalion of men who pray for the abolition of women’s rights, for women’s “chastity,” and for men’s “masculine authority.” Arijana Lekić-Fridrih: All Art is a Political Statement links the erosion of women’s rights across intercontinental boundaries.

Purchase the book in the U.S. at Disobedience Press, and in Europe at Domino Project.

Arijana Lekicć-Fridrih stands in the middle of a circle of praying men. Her fisted arm is raised in the air. The image also shows a photograph of the book "Arijana Lekić-Fridrh: All Art is a Political Statement"
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BOOK LAUNCH — Arijana Lekić-Fridrih: All Art is a Political Statement

On Wednesday, December 4, from 12-1:20pm, the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies (CREES) will host a talk with Croatian artist Arijana Lekić-Fridrih, the subject of Rebekah Modrak’s new single-essay book: Arijana Lekić-Fridrih: All Art is a Political Statement (Disobedience Press, 2024).

The essay introduces audiences to the work of Lekić-Fridrih and, in particular, to her Silent Mass, a performance resisting the “Be Manly” movement, a series of mass prayer events held in Croatian public squares by a battalion of men who pray for the abolition of women’s rights, for women’s “chastity,” and for men’s “masculine authority.” Arijana Lekić-Fridrih: All Art is a Political Statement links the erosion of women’s rights across intercontinental boundaries and offers Lekić-Fridrih’s video interviews and public performances as a guide for activism and collective action against retrograde restrictions on the freedom of women.

During the event, Lekić-Fridrih will be in conversation with Rebekah Modrak and and writer and professor Brian Willems (University of Split). The event will take place in Room 555 Weiser Hall, University of Michign.


The event is co-sponsored by the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia, and the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design.