Experience Reflection

Sindhu Raghunandan

As a student of liberal education, I find that it is crucial to study and define concepts such as art and feminism to better understand my immediate world. After having explored the National Museum of Women and the Arts, the National Museum of the American Indians, The National Museum of African Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, I have, in many ways, pigeonholed many of my assumptions of art and feminism as well as found many new connections between them. By considering each separately, the relationship between art and feminism become clear.

One of the common assumptions which drive public opinion of any form of art is the idea that it can’t be functional. Before perusing the Women and Art museum, American Indian museum, African Art museum and Hirshhorn Museum, I shared this assumption. The National Museum of Women and the Arts incorporated many pieces which conveyed several strong ideas of Women’s roles and experiences. The artist that I spent the most time analyzing was Paula Rego, who was born in Portugal and inspired by surrealism. The museum booklet explores the idea that Paula Rego’s, “suggestive forms and titles alludes to her distress over political tensions in her native Portugal and her general distaste for bourgeois culture (pg 10)” which captures the idea of the link between the personal and political. In this connection lies the functionality of women’s art or feminist art; it allows for the unrestricted expression of personal reflection and reaction to the political climate.

Similarly, the National Museum of the American Indians provided a window into the art of dress making in the Identity by Design exhibit. The dresses were surprisingly well decorated with many different materials. All were, as expected, conservative to match the passive Native American culture. More importantly, even though the dresses are now cherished as ancient art, they were actually worn. Furthermore the dresses conveyed anything from class to maturity to the relations with the colonists. I found it amazing that no matter how oppressed they were by the colonists, the Native women still incorporated the American flag into dresses further highlighting the passive and accepting nature of the Natives. The dresses therefore allowed women to get involved in many aspect of their society such as taking care of the family, honoring elite warriors, and keeping an ancient and rich culture alive.

The Museum of African Art was one where the idea of functionality was truly obvious. The displays were based on many aspects of society and were presented in an organized manner. There were several pieces such as the door carvings, the ivory armlet, and statues representing the Guan organization which clearly were not intended to be art work. While it is possible that the African people really do cherish each of those pieces as art today, it seems more likely that the curator of the exhibit intended more to open a window into their daily culture of various regions in Africa. The museum guide provided further explanation to many of the sculptures; I thought the ivri statue, which is used in Niger to help people control their temper, was most interesting. In this case, the pieces which I analyzed were functional before they were considered art. However, I do still believe them to be art as they involve some technical skill and convey a message about the various cultures of Africa.

Finally, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden provided a more direct look at art. While the recommended exhibit was closed, I did get to see a few pieces contrasting a few basic colors. The piece, ‘Red, Yellow, Blue V” was a rectangular canvas divided into three sections each covered in an opaque layer of each of the three aforementioned colors. This particular piece initially looked like nothing but on further contemplation, I understood that sometimes beauty is in the most basic form of a medium. For example in music, the most basic song is still artistically significant and so a painting of the most basic color pallet is still art. Modern art is often unclear and therefore underappreciated; however, its function is fifty percent expression of ideology and fifty percent technical skill. As long as the viewer can relate to the art work in some way, it succeeds at being art.

Now, I turn my attention to defining and exploring feminism. The two museums which lent themselves to this subject were the National Museum of Women and the Arts as well as the Museum of the American Indian. My main assumption from which my other assumptions stemmed was that anything related to feminism would follow the general stereotypes of women. I was pleased to find pieces that agreed and surprised to find pieces that disagreed with my assumption.

While I was convinced that the Museum of Women and the Arts would channel the elegance of women and their animosity towards men, I saw many pieces that proved quiet the opposite. As far as elegance, there were pieces that celebrated the elegance and poise of the female sex; these pieces included beautiful settings, attention to detail and a sense of perfection or an ideal. There were also, however, several pieces by Paula Rego which portrayed women exemplifying very masculine features conveying a sense of women empowerment or the false interpretation of feminism. Finally the animosity towards men was very present in animalistic degradation of the male sex. In some exhibits however, the lack of male figures in the artwork conveyed a true sense of feminism where the focus is not on over powering male dominance but to celebrate the female potential. While stereotypes have and will always guide public opinion of feminism, it is absolutely essential to avoid seeing only the stereotypes in every piece.

The Museum of American Indians and the Identity by Design exhibit reflected and challenged many stereotypes of (native) women which dictate their subservience and limited roles/creativity. Immediately after entering the exhibit I found that native women are actually organized into many classes based on wealth and social roles indicated by the style of dress they wore. As mentioned in the art portion of my reflection, dress making gave native women a medium through which they could to get involved and be empowered to act independently and creatively. Examples of this independence are the War Bonnet Society and War Mothers Society, through which native women reclaimed the right to dance. As I walked through the exhibit I realized that the beautifully crafted dresses indicate political, religious, spiritual, familial, and marital involvement of Native women in their communities. By looking beyond the stereotypes of native women, I have found that even in their passivity, Native American women embody a pure and strong sense of feminism where feminism is the celebration of female role.

After having considered art and feminism separately, it is important to consider the link between the two. In many ways feminism is an art form and a style of expressing ideas. In other ways art is a platform for feminist philosophy. It is important to recognize that feminism, like art, transcends all cultural, national, and ideological boundaries. The true link between art and feminism is found in the functionality of feminist art where the political is personal and all stereotypes dissolve to reveal beautifully crafted ideas of women empowerment, the female role, and a celebration of women everywhere.