Nadya Tolokonnikova's debut museum exhibit RAGE has been attacked

"My Pussy Riot Sex Dolls installation was attacked this past weekend in the chapel of the Holy Virgin at the OK Linz Museum in Linz, Austria. The glass door of the chapel was smashed on the eve of Mary’s conception—a symbolic date that cannot be ignored. This chapel has long been a secular space, integrated into the OK Linz Museum of Contemporary Art," Tolokonnikova said in a statement.

"This attack is not an isolated event. Earlier this year, Esther Strauß's Crowning, a sculpture portraying the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus, was beheaded at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Linz. The pattern is clear: there is an intensifying backlash against art that dares to question traditional narratives surrounding the roles of women in faith and, beyond faith, in culture at large."

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"Pussy Riot Sex Dolls is a child of love, an act of care, and a celebration of sisterhood. I bought the used sex dolls from Facebook Marketplace and sex forums because I felt compassion for the dolls and wanted to give them a second life," she continued. "With the help of many—including my talented co-creator, Chinese drag queen Niohuru X—I transformed the sex dolls into sculptures depicting Pussy Riot activists. I placed the dolls in the chapel of the Holy Virgin because I believe feminists are sacred, and I’m convinced that the Virgin Mary is a feminist too.

Following the attack, we have chosen to keep the Sex Dolls on display in the chapel. The shattered glass will remain—a haunting reminder of both the fragility and resilience of art and the freedoms it symbolizes."