Below are the literary and artistic pieces submitted by you for our Winter Fair on the theme of feminist mythologies. Thanks to all the artists and writers who responded to our call-out and contributed work, we are so pleased to have such a brilliant range of pieces.
Also, don’t forget to check out the great selection of workshops happening throughout the weekend and buy your tickets here.
Woman of the Wolf and other stories reading by Isabelle Flynn:
Katerina Mimikou short story White Pillowcase:
Eva Panagiotopoulou:
Storytelling inspired by the medieval “Valkyries” of the Slavic world. Two folk tales about two of the most courageous women in Slavic folklore. The first is about Zlatogorka Vievna, a shield-maiden of divine origins who by her strength and cunningness manages to persuade, Dazbog (son of Perun, god of thunder), to become her lifetime partner in love and battle.
The second is about Vasilissa Mikulishna, one of the most intelligent women, ever to live in medieval Russia, who uses her own intelligence to free her husband from prison and prove to the prince of Kiev that women are capable of achieving, many remarkable things.
Eva is 32 and lives in Agrinio, Greece. woodnote.gr
Sonya Marques:
This is my personal version of the Witch Baba Yaga, also known as La que Sabe (which means the one who knows everything). This illustration represents our inner old woman, the one that has all the answers inside her, the one that accepts death as a necessary part of life, the one that knows that there are old parts of us that must die to move forward and be able to live our life with more integrity. Dancing with life and death, dancing with polarities and dualities, and growing while dancing.https://www.instagram.com/sonya.luadolobo/https://www.facebook.com/luadolobo
Hystorical:
Venus Pudica is a pose from classical sculpture; ‘pudica’ can mean both ‘modest’ and ‘of which to be ashamed’. It refers to Venus covering her vulva which simultaneously gives her modesty and draws the viewer’s eye. The name and pose are both characteristic of the male gaze in classical sculpture, turning Venus into a sex object but also maintaining her modesty so she is still ‘appropriate’. Here, the middle Venus holds the classic pudica pose, whilst the left Venus stands exposed and the right Venus covers herself – an attempt to deconstruct the concept of ‘modesty’ and challenge the idea that a woman’s body is for male consumption – no matter what she’s doing, she’s not for you (thank you for coming to my insta caption ted talk).
Reminder that if the goddess of love can have stomach rolls, so can you !!
Yoshiko Teraoka: In the Beginning Woman was the Sun
Tracklist:
Tokyo Gakusō – Derute
Nippon Gagaku Kai – Etenraku in Hyojo
Joe Hisaishi – Tennshi Legend
Haruomi Hosono – Down to the Earth
WaqWaq Kingdom – Ga Ga Qu
Sugai Ken – Akuta
Tetsu Inoue – Holy Dance
小久保隆 – 光と風のシンフォニー
Midori Takada & Masahiko Satoh – Chang-Dra
WaqWaq Kingdom – Circle of Life
Primitive Shinto is a pantheistic belief based on deifying spirits dwelling in nature. In this
animistic tradition, respect is given to all fellow beings – from animals to rocks, trees, water and
air. Atop the mountains, there shines goddess of the sun, carrier of life and light: Amaterasu. She
radiates with life-affirming warmth and awe, offering sustenance and fertile ground unto which
the rice crops flourish, and paving destruction in her absence.
This is a mix featuring a collection of sounds stretching across new and old Japan. Beginning
with the theatrical Kagura which seeks to conjure up the spirits of the kami, ancient sounds meet
with the near past and present, in resonance with the natural pulses of Japanese landscapes.
They naturally tend toward percussive sounds, with contradicting beats and nervous energy
erupting with positive urgency and life. Meditative tones sink and swim into calm quiet, only to
propel forward again like bursts of sun.
The title of the mix is taken from the opening lines of the literary journal Seitō (Bluestockings).
Founded by feminist activist and writer Hiratsuka Raicho, she wrote, “reveal the sun hidden
within us, reveal the genius hidden within us!” and with it, the first declaration of women’s rights
in Japan. Like a glimmer of sunshine spilling through the window in these dark times, these are
the sounds that serve as a reminder of surrounding life and energy in the time of social isolation.
This work is a comment on the portrayal of women throughout history with ‘ideal woman’ that has changed dramatically and has been depicted through artwork and media. These trends in body size and skin colour are things that are largely out of our control as women, and lead to us being disposable in society. A depiction of perfect femininity is Sandro Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. This painting holds a pale, blonde, slender woman posing naked on the sea shore. Women with fat bodies are rarely celebrated in a society that strives for perfection. Diet culture is so ingrained in us from young ages- we want large breasts and round bottoms- to appeal to the male gaze. Here, Thantrey places herself, a fat, South Asian woman, in the painting to celebrate her body and to encourage love and positivity towards diverse bodies, as well as challenging the narrative that is forced upon us as women. Leaving the name open, Birth Of is open for all women to place themselves into and celebrate their bodies without filters and censorship.
Christina Mitrentse:
Title : ‘My new dowry’ – Embroidery Encyclopaedia”
Technique : Altered vintage 60’s book published in London embodies a montage of 203 pages of handstiched-knitted embroidery
collection along with a variety of traditional Greek patternsand textile female fashion symbolishing the ”joy of life”
within women’s domestic both traditional and modern life.
Size: Variable
Year: 2020
Title : Bibliophile XX, gynocritisism,
Medium: collage, book covers , marker , digital prints on 310 gsm archival paper
Size : 80 x 100 cm
Year : 2020
Niina Lehtonen Braun:
In the work named “Kanteletar”, we see a feminine protagonist playing the Finnish
(mythological & real) instrument Kantele. In the Kalevala, Finnish Mythology, the greatest singer
of the stories and player of Kantele, is a male, Väinämöinen. In my images it is a female, that
tells the story and plays the Kantele. In “Kanteletar V (Merja)”, we see a strophe from
“Kanteletar”; “Varjele vakainen luoja, juomarille joutumasta”. Freely translated: “Creator protect
me from not ending up with a drinker”.
Kanteletar is a collection of Finnish folk poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot. It is considered to be a sister collection to the Finnish national epic Kalevala. The poems of Kanteletar are based on the trochaic tetrameter, generally referred to as “Kalevala metre”. The name consists of the base word kantele (a Finnish zither-like instrument) and the feminising morpheme -tar and can be roughly interpreted as “maiden of the kantele” or “zither-daughter”, a kind of muse.
In the work named “Neptuna” we see a feminine version of Neptune, the works are based on
sketches I have made on the central Fountain “Neptunbrunnen” in Berlin. I changed here the
male God into a female Goddess. In image “Neptuna I”, Neptune is also playing “kantele” and
singing stories. Other women are listening, chilling and drinking.
