Art, Feminism and Nonviolence

Got to love the Guerrilla Girls…

But wait! Did you know that the Brooklyn Museum has a wing of feminist art?

The Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art is an exhibition and education environment dedicated to feminist art—its past, present, and future. Among the most ambitious, influential, and enduring artistic movements to emerge in the late twentieth century, feminist art has played a leading role in the art world over the last forty years. Dramatically expanding the definition of art to be more inclusive in all areas, from subject matter to media, feminist art reintroduced the articulation of socially relevant issues after an era of aesthetic “formalism,” while pioneering the use of performance and audiovisual media within a fine art idiom.

The Center’s mission is to raise awareness of feminism’s cultural contributions, to educate new generations about the meaning of feminist art, to maintain a dynamic and welcoming learning environment.

If the creation of such a museum wing was not inspiring enough, here’s one of the artists who is weaving together the strands of feminism, nonviolence, activism and creative expression on display at the EASCFA, Andrea Bowers.

Bowers’ art seems to recognize that nonviolence is, at least, interrelated to feminist praxis, as we can see throughout the work she has on display. Each piece is accompanied by a very informative description about the movement or issue she is addressing in her art, and in this way, she is truly bringing nonviolence education to a new level.

One piece, for example, is a video of a 6 hour nonviolent civil disobedience training, given by two activists for a group of dancers. The information is relevant and practical, and the dancers’ bodies are no different than yours or mine when they find themselves learning skills of lock-downs and hassle lines. You can view the 18 minute piece, Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Training (2005) here. 

Another piece, Defense of Necessity (2003), is of a wall of weaving, which she calls sculpture,  that “gets in the way” of the visitor moving around the gallery.

The inspiration for this large sculpture came from the first Women’s Pentagon Action where some activists wove the doors to the Pentagon shut with brightly colored yarns. Weaving was used in many protests by this movement as a metaphor of women’s power against institutions.

You can see more pieces and learn more about the movements that inspired Bowers by visiting her page at the museum’s website, and clicking on the images in the right hand column.

With a museum wing for feminist art, maybe the next one will be a wing for nonviolence art? One day!

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While you are here, check out our Peace Paradigm Radio episode with Arlene Goldbard, “chief policy wonk” of the US Department of Arts and Culture.