Middle East photo show ends at Women's Museum

This is a brother and sister, photographed by Gohar Dashti (b. 1980, Ahvaz, Iran), Untitled #4 from the series, "Today's Life and War," 2008, courtesy of the artist

If you missed the stark exhibition which ended today at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, She Who Tells A Story by 12 women photographers from Iran and the Arab world, you may still buy the 176-paged catalogue for $40.

The entrance to the show/Photo by Patricia Leslie

For the show's opening, museum director Susan Fisher Sterling wrote: "These groundbreaking artists challenge us to rethink our preconceived notions about Arab and Iranian women and their art." It "challenges stereotypes" about the Middle East region "and "provides insight into political and social issues."

This one and the three photographs below are part of different series by Boushra Almutawakel (b. 1969, Sana'a, Yemen), "Mother, Daughter, Doll," 2010, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  The series progresses into darkness, and the subjects gradually change expression and apparel until they are... no more.

Part of different series by Boushra Almutawakel (b. 1969, Sana'a, Yemen), "Mother, Daughter, Doll," 2010, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Above are the ending photographs in the series pictured below on the wall.  The first photograph begin with a smiling mother and daughter (and doll) who are progressively covered up until there is only darkness left (above; photograph on right).

Part of different series by Boushra Almutawakel (b. 1969, Sana'a, Yemen), "Mother, Daughter, Doll," 2010, 

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Part of different series by Boushra Almutawakel (b. 1969, Sana'a, Yemen), "Mother, Daughter, Doll," 2010, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The artists' creativeness came unbound in the presentation, clashing with restrictive and cloaked apparel so often associated with women from the area and frequently seen on Washington's streets. Indeed, some artists focused their cameras on the hijab and the burqa. (The Middle East is not the only conservative region when it comes to vestments: In a report issued this year by the Pew Research Center, 40 percent of European countries regulate women's religious dress in one way or another.) 

Shadi Ghadirian (b. 1974, Tehran, Iran), Untitled, from the series "Qajar," 1998, courtesy of the artist

 Shadi Ghadirian (b. 1974, Tehran, Iran), Untitled, from the series "Qajar," 1998, courtesy of the artist

Not everything is dark and humorless.  Try an outing in a boat. Tanya Habjouqa (b. 1975, Amman, Jordan) Untitled from the series "Women of Gaza," 2009, courtesy of the artist and East Wing Contemporary Gallery

Ruth Halawani (b. 1964, Jerusalem) Untitled XIX, from the series "Negative Incursions," 2002, courtesy of the artist and Selma Feriani Gallery, London

 Ruth Halawani (b. 1964, Jerusalem) Untitled VI, from the series "Negative Incursions," 2002, courtesy of the artist and Selma Feriani Gallery, London

The exhibition included more than 80 photographs and a video installation which filled galleries with contemporary color, and black and white images of life (sometimes staged) in the Middle East.

NMWA Curator Kathryn Wat noted on a tour that the show contained different subjects (including gender roles, military objects, and ways women are oppressed), displayed with "an element of grit, a lot of humor, and irony." Nine of the dozen artists still live in the Middle East. 

The exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where it opened and next traveled to Stanford University and then, the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh before arriving in Washington.
 
Buy the catalogue here or at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005 which has other exhibitions to see.

Admission: Free on the first Sunday of the month (August 7) or $10, adults; $8, seniors and students; and always free for members and children, 18 and under.

For more information: 202-783-5000

Metro station: Metro Center. Exit at 13th Street and walk two blocks north.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Women's Museum showcases quiltessential art

Mary A. Stinson (American)
Crazy Quilt, circa 1880
Silk
Brooklyn Museum, photograph by Gavin Ashworth, 2012

Quilts didn't mean much to me until I saw 35 of them recently at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. The quilt which greets visitors at the entrance to the presentation is more than 200 years old.

Pictorial Quilt, circa 1795
Linen
Brooklyn Museum, photograph by Gavin Ashworth, 2012
Probably made in England or Ireland

I left the museum more than a little astonished by the creativity and degree of difficulty the quilts exacted from their makers.  I saw splashy quilts, historical quilts, colorful quilts with stories, in an exceptional exhibition at the museum, Workt by Hand: Hidden Labor and Historical Quilts. 

On the day I went, I lucked out to find (and tag along, i.e., eavesdrop on) three quilting experts from Country Piecemakers of central Virginia.  The ladies had come up to Washington by train to "scout" the show for their colleagues "down South" and see if it was worth a trip up by the rest of their "bee."

Interrupting them with usual diplomatic flair, I asked: "Does it meet muster?" In unison they answered enthusiastically "yes!" and told me the Hexagon Quilt alone was worth it. (Later on, they amended their statement to include a "crazy quilt." More than one "crazy quilt" hangs in the display, but I think they were talking about Mary Stinson's from 1880, above.)

Said quilter Colleen Woodcock: "It's freaking me out because it's so cool." (I am not sure if she was talking about the quilt or the show, maybe both.) Her companions were Donna Goff and Sandie Terrien who have studios, entire rooms in their homes devoted to their art.

Elizabeth Welsh from Virginia

Medallion Quilt, circa 1830

Cotton

Brooklyn Museum, photograph by Gavin Ashworth, 2012

Anyway, If you admire creativity and fine craftswomanship, are fascinated by the history of art and culture, and support women's endeavors, this is a exposition you do not want to miss.

The name, Workt by Hand, comes from an archaic spelling of "worked," and the phrase "workt by hand" is one often repeated in historical quilting literature, according to a museum statement. Besides, Catherine Morris, the show's curator and editor of the handsome 124-paged catalogue, says the abbreviated term is quite fitting in today's social media world.

Pictorial Quilt, circa 1840

cotton and cotton thread

Brooklyn Museum, photograph by Gavin Ashworth, 2012

The quilt above, according to the catalogue, was likely made by several different women. All the blocks are individually designed, and the one with a woman's silhouette includes initials, a cat, and the symbol of the Freemasons, a square and compass.

Anna Williams, Baton Rouge, Louisiana (1927-2010)
Quilt, 1995
Cotton, synthetics
Brooklyn Museum, photograph by Gavin Ashworth, 2012

It is likely that in the "early days," wealthier women who had more time on their hands than farming women, took up quilting, and were probably aided by slave help. And it is plausible, too, that the quilts were not used for beds but were hung, like they are in the show which is arranged chronologically (except when similar designs demand to be together).

Most of the quilts are from the 19th century but span the 18th through the 20th centuries and come from Europe and the U.S. They all are part of the 100-year-old collection of 160 quilts at the Brooklyn Museum which organized the show. Ms. Morris is the museum's curator at its Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art.  

The catalogue calls the quilts "prescient precursors to modernist abstraction and material documents of the history of women." Their legacy was launched in modern times with the 1971 show at the Whitney Museum of American Art, Abstract Design In American Quilts, which attracted huge media attention and introduced a new perspective about "women's art."

Scholar Janneken Smucker, who is speaking at the museum on April 24 in a free talk, says the Whitney show "elevated quilts to the status of art." 

Fine detail, vibrant colors and designs, appreciation for exquisite artistry and a brief education into what goes into quilting (including the loooong time required to make one) are some of the "takeaways" I took home, and you can likely find more.

Related events at the National Museum of Women in the Arts include:

April 2, 12 - 12:30 p.m. Gallery talk. Free to attend.

April 5, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.: "Workshop: Catch the Quilting Bug-Sashiko Sampler." In conjunction with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, Jennifer Lindsay will teach Japanese embroidery techniques in a program for those age 10 and above. (Children 10 - 14 need adult accompaniment.) Materials are included. ($15, adults; $13, students, seniors, and members. Reservations required: reservations@nmwa.org)

April 5, 12 - 5 p.m.: "Demonstration: Discover Quilting." Free to attend.

April 6, 12 - 5 p.m. Free admission all day (first Sunday of the month)

April 9, 12 - 12:30 p.m. Gallery talk. Free.

April 16, 12 - 12:30 p.m. Gallery talk. Free.

April 18, 12 - 1 p.m. Curator talk by a quilt expert. Free.

April 24, 11:30 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. Janneken Smucker, assistant professor of history at West Chester University, will talk about the exhibition's content and themes. Free.

April 25, 7 p.m. Spring Gala black tie soiree for the museum with cocktails, dinner, dancing, silent auction, and tours of the exhibition. Call Melody Ain at 202-266-2815 or send email to main@nmwa.org.

*********************************************************
What: Workt by Hand: Hidden Labor and Historical Quilts

When: Now through April 27, 2014, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, and 12 - 5 p.m., Sundays

Where: National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005

Admission: Free on the first Sunday of the month (April 6) and on other days: $10, adults; $8, seniors and students, and always free for members and children, 18 and under.

For more information: 202-783-5000

Metro station: Metro Center. Exit at 13th Street and walk two blocks north.

patricialesli@gmail.com

Lesley Gore and guests star at National Museum of Women in the Arts

Photo by Patricia Leslie

You remember Lesley Gore, don't you?  Well, if you are between 40 and 80 (according to an informal survey Friday night), it's likely you do.  She sang at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in a glorious night to celebrate doubling the museum's endowment growth to $50 million during its 25th anniversary year.

NMWA is the world's only museum "exclusively dedicated to showcasing the work of women artists."  Although 51 percent of today's artists are women, only five percent of the art seen in U.S. museums is by women, according to a museum statement. 

NMWA founder Wilhelmina Cole Holladay welcomed guests.

Lesley Gore sang several numbers including two of her top hits, "It's My Party" and "You Don't Own Me" to the delight of the crowd who sang along with her.  Lesley, 67,  said she was celebrating her own anniversary, too:  Her 50th in the music business.  And her voice was no different from way back when/Photo by Patricia Leslie 

 Some of the guests who listened to Lesley Gore drifted back to days of yore. NWMA presented Lesley with its Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Over at Table 14 Claudia Koerbler from the Kingdom of the Netherlands welcomed tablemates and celebrated the beginnings of a perfect meal with the first course of tomatoes, arugula, Camembert, and a choice of breads. Gold trim framed the plates/Photo by Patricia Leslie

650 donors gave to the endowment campaign/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Meanwhile, back at Table 14, women discussed the meanings of surrealism while handsome male tablemates went off to find more bubbly. From the left are Claudia Koerbler from the Kingdom of the Netherlands and third from right is Kathleen M. Burns, a George Mason University professor of journalism/Photo by a handsome lad

 Her gold skirt (left) matched the tablecloths featuring handsewn individual leaves in gilded gold (right)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

A Washington surprise at the museum fete Friday night was the most popular color: black/Photo by Patricia Leslie

There were quite a few "horsepeople" at the museum party including "Andrew" from the U.K.,  "Christopher," a Georgetown commercial investment real estate guru, formerly of Kentucky, "Gladys," a Kentucky farm owner (no relation), "Nancy," and "Liz" who just bought 3,000 acres in North Dakota (?)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

What could be finer than chocolate and champagne?  The dessert buffet overfloweth:  chocolate triangles so rich I almost married them, dainty chocolate cupcakes, chocolate mousse with shavings, fresh fruit (Really? Yes, a few skinny persons were seen placing pieces on dessert dishes to be left on tables, uneaten), and lemon tarts, among other delicacies/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Alas, it's time to say good night and order a coffee for the road/Photo by Patricia Leslie

patricialesli@gmail.com

Mild and Bland: Mary Cassatt at NMWA

By the Queen of Free

Not to be confused with the exhibit, "Role Models: Feminine Identity in Contemporary American Photography" at the same place which is not mild and bland.

At least, that was the impression two women whom I presumed to be volunteers gave a 9-year-old friend’s daughter and me upon entrance at the National Museum of Women in the Arts on a free Sunday recently.
They hesitated and directed us first to the Cassatt exhibit.

Upon climbing the marble stairs we met a chicly dressed visitor from a foreign land (France? Belgium?) who looked at me sternly and said “This (‘Role Models’) is not for her” nodding first to the child and then, to the contemporary photography exhibit. (And you thought Americans were conservative.) I thanked her.

Golly gee, if an exhibit is that graphic, should signs be posted? (“This exhibit is rated XXX.” Think of the crowds who would flock!)

I welcomed the warnings which spared us from possible embarrassment and, likely, my certain death at the hands of the girl’s mother had we seen the show. Better to be safe than sorry. Besides, there was harmless Mary Cassatt adjacent. (Has anyone ever called her works ‘dull’?)

Nothing controversial about her paintings and etchings in the small show which is all about friends and relations. (The title is: "Mary Cassatt: Friends and Family.") Did Ms. Cassatt ever paint any men? The paintings are the pastel colors with the idyllic expressions and poses you visualize when her name is mentioned. Rather robotic with little evidence of consternation other than one of a relative who grimaces slightly. It's like all the subjects are getting ready for naps. They are painted in the style of what was idealized and expected of women at about the same time the Women’s Suffrage Movement was gearing up and women were being arrested for demanding the vote! Imagine.

What's the saying? "Well behaved women never make history? (Who said it? Laurel Thatcher Ulrich and she was?) Well, Mary Cassatt proves her wrong.

Anyway, I enthusiastically anticipate returning to see Strong Women who always inspire and instill me with energy, vigor, and happiness. I have seen enough of Quiet Women in places besides museums.