Women Of The World: A Reflection of Life In Art
by linda J. Wilson

Women of the World: A Global Collection of Art. The result is a surprising, moving and in many cases, profoundly disturbing book.

Women of the World: A Global Collection of Art. Curated by Claudia DeMonte, foreword by Arlene Raven. Pomegranate Communications, Rohnert Park, California, 191 pages, soft- cover. $35.

It's been more than a century since Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, asked "What do women want?" Thanks to advances in communication over the last 100 years, asking more women from more places has become easier than at any other time in history. Before any woman can answer that question, however, she must first be aware of how she defines herself and finds her place in the world around her. Claudia DeMonte asked women artists from 174 countries around the world how they see themselves and women in general and compiled the answers in Women of the World: A Global Collection of Art. The result is a surprising, moving and in many cases, profoundly disturbing book.

DeMonte was raised in Astoria and pays homage to the diversity of cultures in which she was raised as a moving force behind the book. "We relished each other's food, teased each other about our backgrounds, and tried never to lose the traditions that were the only baggage our ancestors could afford to bring with them," is how she describes the environment in which she grew up. But there were deficiencies in the western-oriented education she received in New York City public schools and her first experience of cultures that lay outside the canon of classical Western civilization was an epiphany that would prove to guide the rest of her life. "In college, I had the benefit of being taught art history by a woman who never showed a slide of something she hadn't seen in person. This is impressive, considering that the list of courses she taught included Western, Indian, Chinese and Japanese art history. Her compelling list of exotic locales kindled my dream to travel." And travel she did. "It seems as necessary to my being as food. There is nowhere I wouldn't go--the more remote, the more fulfilling."

DeMonte added that her intentions in the project were to preserve the diverse styles and traditions of each country with the inevitable influences from other countries. "I did not judge the works by the insular standards of the western contemporary art world," she said. "Nor did I seek to find the most famous woman artist in each country. Although many are known and have shown internationally, others are not known at all. They are just women artists pursuing their work seriously, without fame or major recognition. I wanted to underscore the differences in how art is made and perceived."

House of Obedience by Fatima Fakhro

The responses to DeMonte's commissions were as diverse in media as in imagery, but groups of ideas and techniques, which crossed all geographic boundaries, emerged. The survival of local customs is evident in adherence to traditional crafts. Conversely, new technological advances in digital art showed up everywhere, the curator notes.

DeMonte's only limitations imposed on the artists were that the works submitted measure eight inches, or 20 centimeters, square. Slight variations in size and shape crept in, however, and brought a special, unexpected life to the project. "It reminded me of not being able to color within the lines as a child!" she noted.

The works are presented in alphabetical order by country, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Each work is captioned with the artist's name and her explanation of what she has depicted. Many artists define their work by its limitations. "I raise the cry of the forgotten and oppressed women of Afghanistan, but I am unable to depict the grave and horrible plight of our women in my painting," admits the artist known as Ghatol by way of introducing her stark gray, black and white depiction of an Afghan widow and two children begging in Kabul. Algeria's Fathia Iguelmamene lets her work speak for itself with no commentary.

Negar Pooya, as introduced by Arlene Raven, set her picture in a traditional Iranian mirror frame, from which she would have a viewer see her contemporary female spirit. Life means contradictions, Raven maintains, so Maria Jose Zamora of Nicaragua paints one side of her piece red and the other white. Mamialisoa Razanamaro of Madagascar uses her work to explore the daily life of the women in her country, who must prepare food, manage family unity and protect the environment at the same time.

Art work by Maria Jose Zamora

Women see themselves as fighting an often losing battle even in supposedly civilized countries. Tuire Lampila of Finland creates a diorama in which an elderly women sings a Finnish Sauna song to her children, who would spare her children from the world's coldness. "Obviously, the mother's wish is seldom fulfilled," she notes. Pat Derrick, an English artist, has created a steel wool vest fastened with pink ribbon as a reflection on war victims' desperation--the mother has fashioned the steel wool vest to try to shield her baby from harm. "It is not sufficient to accept famine, war, pollution and suffering of women and children. We must look inside and find a way to express our anguish and hope. My voice speaks through my canvases," says Charlette Cugat-Galano of France of her work, which resembles a cut-away nautilus or spiral staircase.

Some works are entirely abstract; Jolok Leon of the Marshall Islands has woven a circular piece of rattan basketwork with shells. The Embassy of Laos donated an anonymous piece of that country's weaving and another anonymous work, a necklace, was submitted from Mauritania. A series of concentric circles in black, blue, orange red and black again in a red field constitutes Pramili Giri's Nepalese work, which, she explains is inspired by nature.

A great many of the works depict the plight of women in repressive and even violent societies: Fatima Fakhro of Bahrain puts a woman's face in a cage in a man's burnoose and inscribes "House of Obedience" on one edge. Dewaki Timsina of Bhutan, who lives in a refugee camp in Nepal, has drawn a woman kneeling before a man and kissing his feet; an open book with an "X" across it lies nearby. "In our culture, a woman is seen by the male society as their property in spite of the modern education," she explains. "Traditionally husband is believed like god for a wife." Continuing assaults of violence plague farm families in Colombia and Adriana Duque submitted a photograph of a farm woman who survived such an assault. "Surviving farm woman live with a phantom who watches their nests fall from trees," she explains. Despina Meiramoglou of Greece poses a photograph of an empty-eyed woman on a page of a book opposite a color photograph of a ripe tomato. "Violence in politics and everyday life occupies my mind," she explains. "I collect clippings about crime and violence to use as outlines in my projects. I use the digital processing of the image, whether from my digital photos, media images or scanned objects, as a weapon to alter reality. It builds my version of reality: sarcastic, sometimes biting, but always filled with my threats and desires." DeMonte's own work adorns the title page: a drawing of a red high-heeled shoe that might be one of Dorothy's ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz linked to a ball and chain. The message is obvious: You're not going anywhere, sister.

A few women manage to surmount and even triumph. Kadija Zainar Fofanah of Sierra Leone submitted a photograph of Guinean/Sierra Leonean Bah Hadja Binta Diallo, a businesswoman, wife and mother of two daughters, who travels throughout the world. "I look up to women who don't feel they have to make a choice between 'femininity' and masculinity.'," she declares.

Painting by Ramili Giri

Descriptions of the media used for each work would add to the understanding of the pieces. The reader must spend too much time flipping back and forth from Raven's preface, where a few such descriptions can be found, to the works themselves. More explanations of the backgrounds and biographies of the artists would also be helpful, although it is understood that such information is not always available. These are minor caveats, however. Women of the World not only presents works which are moving and beautiful in themselves, but also demonstrate how women shine as individuals in their own right while at the same time belong to a global community which overcomes language, nationality and political situation. DeMonte sums up: "This project is neither a geography lesson nor a demonstration of my ability to make connections. It is an expression of the human spirit at the beginning of the twenty-first century, from people whose voices have rarely been heard. Now they finally get to write their own lyrics."

Painting by Marie Kaziende