MA in Curating students Diletta D’Antoni, Inês Mourato and Junwei Chen, have today launched a new virtual exhibition entitled ‘Once upon a time, and Now!’, which is available online until Thursday 18 June 2020. The exhibition was due to be hosted in the School of Arts’ Studio 3 Gallery, but has moved online due to COVID-19.
‘Once upon a time, and Now!’ invites the audience to rediscover the history of women with the influence of the goddess Isis, an Ancient Egyptian deity. Exalting the female image as the protagonist, contemporary artists propose new visions that contradict the misconceptions of a patriarchal society. Exploring the belief that gender equality is an integral order of the divine, a visual discourse about motherhood and womanhood is explored to open contemporary debate, encompassing the importance of a woman’s role in society, arts and politics.
Isis was an omniscient deity endowed with magical powers. Her supremacy over all the gods reflected the recognised status of Egyptian women. ‘Wiser than a million gods’, Isis had a complete knowledge of the heavens and the earth. She was the daughter, wife and mother of Egypt’s most powerful gods: Geb, Osiris and Horus respectively. Yet she also incorporated human qualities – a natural balance of good and evil – that ordinary women could relate to. This exhibition combines and juxtaposes different historical cultures and beliefs in order to rethink women’s liberation by listening to their glories and sufferings throughout history.
The exhibition features artwork by Nancy Spero, David Deweerdt, Nooji Studio, Alaa Awad, James Putnam, Ana Maria Pacheco, Silvia Paci, Claudia Niarni, Bin Luo, Nicole Wassall, Almagul Menlibayeva, Bin Zhao, Lu Han, Crisia Constantine and Mary Kelly.
The virtual exhibition can be viewed on The ‘Once Upon a time, and Now!’ website, here:
www.onceuponatimeandnow.com/once-upon-a-time-and-now/
In addition, the curators have produced an exhibition catalogue, which can be viewed here:
www.onceuponatimeandnow.com/3d-flip-book/catalogue/