"There are no tyrannies that would not try to limit art, because they can see the power of art. Art can tell the world things that cannot be shared otherwise. It is art that conveys feelings."

 - Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of Ukraine 

ORLAN

(c)image: Luc Wauman
MesuRAGE du Vatican Roma, 1974, 1974
Performance

The first of ORLAN's MesuRAGEs. She was stopped by security guards and then pretended to be fulfilling a vow, crawling on her knees around the Vatican. Also called "Ceci n'est pas un voeu" [This is Not a Vow].

For her first MeasuRAGE - an improvised, wildcat affair - ORLAN did not yet wear the dress-like smock that she later donned over her clothing, nor did she make white marks on the ground. The event was halted by security guards, forcing ORLAN to find a dodge to avoid further hassles with the Vatican. So she pretended to be fulfilling a vow by crawling on her knees, thus reassuring the security forces and temporarily interrupting the action, which over the next decade would be repeated in various forms.