Feminine Power is Feared and Revered in new NMA exhibition

Posted on 7 December, 2022

Goddesses, demons, witches and spirits are to feature in a ground-breaking exhibition exploring feminine power at the National Museum of Australia which opens tomorrow.

It is the only Australian institution to display the British Museum works.

In a timely contribution to the national discussion around female representation, Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages explores the historic and contemporary representations of female power and authority, and unearths how female spiritual beings were revered by ancient and modern cultures. It explores the many faces of feminine power and examines how goddesses, demons, witches and spirits have shaped and continue to shape our understanding of the world and the role of women in it.

Headpiece, Nigeria, about 1900–1930 CE. © Trustees of the British Museum, 2022

Featuring more than 160 objects from six continents, dating over 5000 years, from 2800 BCE to 2021, Feared and Revered takes a cross cultural look at the influence of female spiritual power over history. Only 13 of the objects have previously toured to Australia. Sculpture, paintings, and dedicatory objects from ancient and medieval cultures across the globe, are exhibited alongside contemporary artwork. Highlights include a monumental 18th dynasty seated statue of the Egyptian goddess of war and destruction, Sekhmet (1391–1353 BCE); an exquisitely carved carnelian Hellenistic ring featuring the head of Medusa with snakes in her hair (100 BCE – 100 CE); an early Roman seal depicting Adam and Eve; among the earliest sculptural depictions of the female form – a Cycladic violin-shaped figurine (2800 BCE); a star of the British Museum’s collection – the terracotta Queen of the Night relief, thought to depict the Babylonian goddess of sexual passion and war, Ishtar (1750 BCE); and a scene from the Ancient Egyptian ‘Greenfield Papyrus’ depicting the sky goddess, Nut – the manuscript is one of the longest and most beautifully illustrated of the Book of the Dead to have survived and is rarely displayed due to its fragility (950 – 930 BC).

The exhibition includes Australian Indigenous representations of female ancestral figures and popular culture embodiments of the divine, reflected in a costume worn by Kylie Minogue in her 2011 ‘Aphrodite: Les folies’ tour. Feared and Revered is a newly developed exhibition by the British Museum which opened in the United Kingdom in May 2022 and which has travelled to Canberra as its first international venue.

Rangda mask, Bali, Indonesia, about 1950 CE. © Trustees of the British Museum, 2022

National Museum of Australia director, Dr Mathew Trinca, said he was thrilled to bring such an intriguing and timely show to the country, exploring feminine power, authority and identity.

“This unique and inspiring exhibition explores the representation of female spiritual beings over history and how their depiction in ancient and modern cultures and in mythology shaped, and continues to shape, cultural understanding of the world and the role of women in it,” Dr Trinca said.

“Australian audiences will be fascinated by this show which melds historic and contemporary reflections on feminine spiritual power – the exhibition is the fifth in a series of British Museum exhibitions that have featured at the National Museum of Australia, and builds on our strong partnership.”

British Museum director Dr Hartwig Fischer said, “From deep history to the present day, goddesses, spirits, demons, holy women and other manifestations of female authority have played a significant role in shaping historical and contemporary beliefs and cultures across the world.

Takiyasha the Witch and the Skeleton Spectre by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Japan, 1845-1846 CH. © Trustees of the British Museum, 2022

“Feared and Revered directly engages with important social issues impacting the modern world and by presenting this exhibition to an Australian audience it allows us to reflect on the commonality of our own experiences and continue the dialogue on what femininity means today.”

Feared and Revered is enhanced by contemporary reflections by former Governor-General Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO; Bangarra dance artist Kassidy Waters; world-renowned classicist Dame Mary Beard DBE; human rights lawyer Rabia Siddique; comedian and host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, Deborah Frances-White; playwright and critic Bonnie Greer OBE; and award-winning writer and presenter of the podcast How to Fail, Elizabeth Day. Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages is on show at the National Museum of Australia from 8 December 2022 to 27 August 2023.

Main image supplied by the National Museum of Australia: Dame Quentin Bryce at the opening of Feared and Revered.