From 2017, a Carinthian artist unfurled a large image of a crucified, bleeding woman in the Klagenfurt city parish. Police are now investigating for "denigration of religious teachings."

Controversy over art installation in Carinthian church: "Women are only allowed to clean the church"

A Carinthian artist unfurled a large image of a crucified, bleeding woman in the Klagenfurt city parish. Police are now investigating for "denigration of religious teachings."

The poster, measuring six by three meters, caused a stir in a Klagenfurt parish. The artist intended to address the issue of women in the church.

"I am a religious person, and I also have the right to highlight the situation of women. But the hatred with which the priest tore down my banner of the crucified woman is truly troubling," says artist Hans Gerhard Kalian. Police have been investigating the graphic artist since Palm Sunday for "denigration of religious teachings." This offense carries a prison sentence of up to six months.

While the priest was calling for a procession outside St. Egid's Church in Klagenfurt, Kalian unfurled a banner measuring six by three meters inside the church. The banner depicted, among other things, a crucified woman with bloodstains on her white dress. The artist's wife distributed flyers with informational material about her husband's work.

"The banner was quickly removed, and there were no other major incidents. An investigation is now underway," the Klagenfurt City Police Command confirmed in response to an inquiry from the Standard newspaper.

"No, I didn't intend to provoke anyone, and it has nothing to do with blasphemy, as I'm being accused of," Kalian defended himself. His art project, "Martyre femme," was simply meant to highlight "the suffering of oppressed, trafficked, and abused women." “But whenever women are addressed in the church, there’s always a problem. With the banner, I wanted to point out that women have been subjected to oppression, slavery, and violence since the beginning of humankind. That was my motivation for designing the banner,” Hans Gerhard Kalian told the Standard. Palm Sunday, with its reading of the Passion narrative, seemed like the appropriate time to do so.

Kalian admits that putting up the banner wasn’t authorized. “But if I had announced it beforehand, I never would have been allowed to.” In any case, when the priest discovered the banner, “he rushed at it, ripped it down, and crumpled it up.”

Palm Sunday, with the reading of the Passion narrative, seemed the perfect time to him. “That’s not true,” says pastoral care worker Helmut Nagele. “I moved it on the priest’s orders.” The artist subsequently “snatched it back from us because he wanted it back.”

Furthermore, it was “pure provocation” by Kalian, “it was a general attack on the Church,” says Nagele. If Kalian thinks he wanted to draw attention to the situation of women, “Catholic women also repeatedly point out the oppressed women around the world,” Nagele counters.

“It’s just the way it is that a male-dominated patriarchy still prevails in the Church; women are only allowed to clean the church and water the flowers,” Kalian replies.

The diocese declined to comment, stating that there would be no public statement. No official interpretation of the incidents at St. Egid’s parish church was available from the Bishop’s Office in Klagenfurt either.

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