Samantha Holcomb
February 12, 2008
WMST 250
Assumption about Feminism and Art
There is no place like Washington DC and the Metropolitan Area. It offers so much to a learner. Being the nation’s capital, and where most of the political decisions are made, although it offers political education, it also supplies a learner with multicultural education. On my “adventure” through the Metropolitan Area and visits to the varying museums I was astounded and surprised at the many different perceptions of art in different museums. Museums such as the National Museum of Women in the Arts offer a different perception than that of the art in the National Museum of the American Indian. Not only does the perception vary in appearance, but also in meaning. Through these different perceptions I have learned a great portion of information on different culture, and the different views and “takes” on art.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts is a place to honor the perception of art by women. It glorifies art by women and art that depicted women, both good and bad. Events that take place are events created to empower females such as Business and Professional Women’s Council Events. Exhibits that take place at the museum are also empowering to females, such as the Paula Rego exhibit. While visiting the National Museum of Women in the Arts I learned that there is still more to women than “meets the eye”. Women are responsible for their contributions to the household, such as the adding of a female’s touch in a house and the educating of the young females of how to be a strong woman. Because they usually do not engage in hunting, fishing and hard labor activities, women are underestimated and it is atoumatically perceived that they are weak. Although a woman may be perceived as a weak being, woman can add strong political and emotional feedback to there life situations. Most of the art pieces that were viewed on this visit were very confusing to the eye, but very capturing. While visiting the museum I felt very independent and very connected with my feminine inside. It was a powerful visit that really gave encouragement for me to be a strong woman of the 21st century. This museum is feminist because it portrays the women’s point of view on what art is to them and their perception of what is beautiful. This connects to feminism because feminism is about the woman’s theory on things, therefore, does meet this definition of feminism in the ways of art defining a woman’s theory. The museum is currently exhibiting work by Paula Rego. Paula Rego’s art ranges from figure studies to semi-abstract political paintings and collages. Through her art she expressed “her anger toward the fascist regime in her native Portugal.” (Pamphlet on Paula Rego from Women’s Museum)This museum gave a very different perception of art as opposed to the National Museum of the American Indian.
The National Museum of the American Indian is a place to honor traditions, rituals, ceremonies and life conditions of the Native Americans. It highlights the traditions and ways of the Native Americans lifestyle. It displays the different clothing, food, instruments, and personal valuables of Native Americans. This museum can be recognized as a feminist museum to the extinct that women played an important role within the tribe and their households. This is because some of the art that is displayed honors and highlights the role of women, such as the Our Lives Exhibition and the Changing Exhibition. Both contained very capturing exhibits that dealt with women and their contributions to their tribe, household and lives. For example in the “Our Lives” exhibition it displayed a very sentimental piece that pertains to women called the “Hemp Time Ball”. This artifact is a woman’s interpretation of her life and her own story. Beginning with the courtship of a female’s life, she would begin to make knots and tie beads on to some twine and would roll it in to a ball (this was done to keep organization) that only she could interpret the meaning of. Each knot or bead represented a major happening in her life. Every 25 years she would begin a new ball. I felt that this artifact was a great symbol of feminism because it was all about a certain woman’s life and individuality. I was very captivated by this piece of art, not only this specific artifact, but the museum as a whole was an amazing visit. I learned that we, as a diverse country, do not give the Native Americans their fair honor and recognition for begin different. I assume this is because the Native Americans are so intertwined with other cultures that we have overlooked their role that they play in America. Currently the museum is celebrating the origins of chocolate through an exhibit called “The Power of Chocolate”. This exhibit celebrates the making process, history and culture of chocolate. It also celebrates where it came from such as Bolivia, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, and many other South American countries. The purpose of the various exhibitions is to focus on the Native American tribe as a whole, and to honor all of the details and people that made the Native American culture so different from any other culture. Art by women or crafts by women have so much to do with the museum, due to the fact that the clothes, food and other crafts that were need around the house such as pots, shoes, etc. were made by the women in the tribe. Like the National Museum of the American Indian, there are other museums that also contribute to the lifestyles of a culture, such as The National Museum of African Art.
The National Museum of African Art is a place where the arts and crafts of Africa are honored. They are not only honored, but they are recognized and accepted by the public. Exhibits that are displayed at this museum mostly deals with African Art, such as sculptures, masks, instruments and small housing necessities. The exhibit that is currently there is called the African Vision: The Walt Disney-Tishman African Art Collection. This exhibit contained different ceremonial masks and sculptures that depicted African women, African men, and the lifestyle of Africa. For example, in some of the female figured sculptures women were made supporting their breast to represent the nurturing role of women. Like the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of African Art serves the purpose to recognize the nation of Africa as a whole through its artwork. Also both museums share the same reason of why I think it is a feminist. The fact that there is recognition of the female role in the African culture and the respect that is given to her, I consider the museum feminist to that extent. All of the museums that I visited left me with questions and wondering if what was being displayed was considered art.
The Hirshhorn Museum is a museum of sculptures that depict a person’s feelings, emotions, personality, etc. The exhibit that I viewed was called Currents: Recent Acquisitions. This exhibit contains structure that contributed to shaping people’s understanding of the world and capturing moods during memorable times in history. This museum, in my opinion, has no relationship to feminism whatsoever. This museum did contain art by women, but the art was not made to honor women in anyway. In the museum there did dwell many art that involved women’s opinion, but feminism is about honoring women all together and there impacts. The museum only honored a women’s opinion on a certain event, which is why I believe that this museum cannot be considered feminist.
In conclusion, through my visit to the different museums I have learned that most of my assumptions about the museums were true and some were false. Art contains a different meaning in certain aspects of life. What one may consider art another may consider craft or a necessity of life. But because of the variances in art, although o may believe something is art one may still be thinking “Is that Art?”
