Body-Text: Religion, Art & Power

Religious traditions and cultures are wellsprings of power; however, the mechanisms of control and regulation integral to them should not be disregarded. A discussion of a theological standpoint that fails to examine the power relations in which that theology develops and which it validates will always prove inadequate. It is here that art offers a medium of expression that combines resistance and a drive to refashion religious traditions.

The theologian Mary Daly claimed that “If God is male, then the male is God” and that “the male is God in relation to women”. These statements lead in turn to the claim according to which “God is to man as man is to woman”. Men cover their heads before God as an act of respect and humility whereas women cover their bodies in the presence of men to conceal their sexuality and preserve their modesty. The artists contributing to this exhibition – Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and Druze – create works of defiance and complex inversions that seek to subvert these hierarchies. They criticize the traditions and cultures in which they live and, at the same time, reclaim them for themselves on their own terms. Their endeavor serves as a platform for an ongoing examination of tradition and culture while subverting their regimental structuring and attempting to reshape them.

Religious traditions and cultures are wellsprings of power; however, the mechanisms of control and regulation integral to them should not be disregarded. A discussion of a theological standpoint that fails to examine the power relations in which that theology develops and which it validates will always prove inadequate. It is here that art offers a medium of expression that combines resistance and a drive to refashion religious traditions. The work of feminist artists acting within a traditional framework charges existing symbols with new meanings.

Some of the artists participating in the exhibition direct their work at society and create an explicit and categorical critique against coercive injunctions, laws, and customs. Others address theology and seek to shed light on feminine sides of Divine representations, to reclaim and reread ancient female rituals, and to give voice and visibility to female figures who received a negative or marginal portrayal in patriarchal traditions. Some amalgamate the ‘social’ with the ‘theological’ in their works, frequently by a fusion of sacred texts and the female body. In doing so, they present the body as a source of knowledge and memory, connecting private experience and that of existence among a community. 

The ‘Body Text’ exhibition seeks to highlight aspects common to feminist artists who create within different cultural and religious realms. Despite their cultural and religious diversity, they are at times perceived as much closer to each other than men and women sharing the same religion or culture. The exhibition presents the voices and faces of the participating artists in the ‘video text’ film clips through which we seek to reveal additional layers of art interpretation, and to emphasize both the similarity and difference between the artworks, the artists, and the diverse worlds in which they operate.

Some of the artists participating in the exhibition direct their work at society and create an explicit and categorical critique against coercive injunctions, laws, and customs. Others address theology and seek to shed light on feminine sides of Divine representations, to reclaim and reread ancient female rituals, and to give voice and visibility to female figures who received a negative or marginal portrayal in patriarchal traditions.

Though such artists’ works are sometimes seen as blasphemous, they do not reject the culture in which they live; rather, they reaffirm it while subverting its oppressive patriarchal dictates, which exclude them as women. Their incisive criticism attests to their deep commitment to text, ritual, and law and is based on a theology common in religious feminisms, according to which the rectification of oppressive practices is seen as a religious act, or, in Jewish terms, tikkun olam (“repairing the world”).

The online exhibition ‘Body Text’ was curated by Nurit Jacobs-Yinon and Dr. David Sperber, and is presented as part of the Tager International Conference – “Feminism in the Abrahamic Religions, hosted by the Rackman Center operating within the framework of the Faculty of Law of Bar-Ilan University, in conjunction with the Gender Studies Program at Bar-Ilan University and the Center for the Study of Relations between Jews, Christians, and Muslims of the Open University.

To the online exhibition: https://art2021.rackmancenter.com/