The newest exhibition at the National Museum of Australia (NMA) explores what power looks like through a feminine lens, embracing everything from goddesses like Persephone or our homegrown pop goddess, Kylie, to religious symbols, folklore, and more. Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages is open until 27 August 2023.
Born out of the minds of the British Museum, the exhibition will be housed at the NMA for nine months. Canberra is the only Australian stop on the international tour, with just 13 of the 160 exhibits to have graced our shores before. Through the items, we are invited to learn about the spirits, witches, demons, and divinities that have shaped how the spirituality of women has been reflected throughout history.
Attendees will be transported through many different cultures, six continents, and over a span of 5,000 years, exploring women demonic and divine as they have been captured through sculpture, art, and artifacts.
Flowing seamlessly through different themes, guests are greeted by Creation and Nature; here we see one of the unique Australian pieces – the Yawkyawks. Often compared to mermaids, the creatures appear to be women with a fish-like tail who are found swimming in freshwater pools and streams. Legend says that if you swim in the waters of the Yawkyawk, you may soon become pregnant with twins or even triplets, as they hold powers of great fertility.
The weavings, screen print painting, and lino prints by First Nation artists from Maningrida Arts Centre and Babbarra Women’s Centre were commissioned for the exhibition. The women say the creatures in the stories passed down through the generations were known for their singing and for coming to shore when they saw a man they liked the look of.
“When men walk on the beach to water and they’ll see him walking up and down. They call boyfriend and they would keep watching, watching him when they walk up and down. Or they think we should make boyfriend to make relationship,” the women explain.
Passion and Desire celebrates sexuality and beauty, perfectly captured in the once scandalous nude sculpture of Aphrodite, one of the first life-sized naked female representations in ancient Rome.
Hindu goddess Kali can be found in Magic and Malice where the deity stands atop her husband, wearing a necklace of skulls representing ego. Created just last year, she is proving to quickly become a crowd favourite; however, audiences are encouraged to take the time to take in the smaller items as well.
“So many wonderful, large pieces take your immediate attention. But the ones that I’d indicated were my favourites … I was looking for women I was attracted to for their qualities, but I was also focusing on the art and beauty of the pieces,” says Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO, a Feared and Revered “voice”.
The former and first female Governor-General of Australia, Dame Quentin says a small painting of the goddess Rashmi would have to be the one that speaks to her the most.Feminine power, for her, is women in power, though there still aren’t as many as their male counterparts.
“What comes to mind is really a capacity to influence, to lead change, to have a voice that’s heard, and that is actively participating in decision making. It means also important qualities, like courage and determination,” she says.
Another voice of the exhibition sees female power a bit differently. Rabia Siddique, a humanitarian rights lawyer, author, and mother to teen triplet boys, says that female strength is more than we are led to believe. Particularly in western culture, she says, we are encouraged to see feminine power in the duality of grace and serenity or strength, fierceness, and grit.
“For me, feminine power is multifaceted; it’s not attached to these traditional masculine notions of physicality or strength. To me, it’s about a real inner strength, a presence, a resolve, the ability to love and suffer, and an ability to hold space for communities, as well as meting out justice, and discipline,” Ms Saddique says.
Both of these impressive voices of the exhibition agree that while male strength as a concept is something more solid, it is power as we know it, loud and physical, while the feminine side of strength is something that requires more exploration and exposure, especially now.
“We need to have these conversations; we need to understand that femininity and feminine power is so many different things and that it’s been eroded, and it’s being threatened and it’s at risk,” Ms Siddique says.
Explore notions of female spiritual power across cultures and millenia in Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages, at the National Museum of Australia until 27 August 2023; nma.gov.au
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