In one depiction of Kali we see the bloodthirsty, multi-armed Hindu goddess with her scarlet tongue stained with blood, a garland of severed male heads around her neck, and her sword proudly raised as if to display the traces of terror after the battle Beneath her feet, the pale, gaunt body of her husband, Shiva, immobilized under her weight. The image, disturbing, could seem like a warning of the danger of women’s power. But we are told that Kali is loved and feared in equal measure, often revered as a mother. And that his insatiable violence destroys ignorance and guides his followers to knowledge. Or that his necklace of severed heads symbolizes his power to destroy pride. How do we now avoid not seeing in his anger a lesson of liberation?
We are in the exhibition Venerated and feared. Feminine power in art and beliefs, which through 166 pieces from the British Museum at CaixaForum (until June 16) traces the history of the representation of femininity through goddesses, witches, spirits, demons or saints -some of living religions such as Tibetan Buddhism, Wicca or Catholicism-, in which a feast of precious objects from cultures from all continents coexist, from prehistory to the present day.
There it is, splendid, in the middle of a 5,000-year journey, a nude figure of Venus or Aphrodite from 100-150 BC. covering (or pointing?) her breasts and vulva with her hands. She was scandalously dangerous in her day (the first life-size statue of Aphrodite created by Praxiteles drove men crazy and a young man is said to have thrown himself off a cliff after making love to her), but the goddess of desire was also considered a symbol of justice and courage. The curator, Belinda Crerar, points to a display case with coins from Julius Caesar where the image of the goddess appears, honored as a source of strength, virility and success.
“My imagination as a Western woman is that femininity has to do with motherhood, beauty, fragility, delicacy… But this is nothing more than a cultural construct. Outside of this view we can find other concepts that have to do with action, with war, disease and annihilation”. And this is not contradictory to the idea of ??protection or care. Sekhmet, another bloodthirsty goddess, in this case Egyptian, is depicted with the head of a lioness so that there is no doubt about her ferocity and destructive power. She had been sent by her father, the god Ra, to annihilate mankind, although in the moments when she could control her anger she also provided healing, and for this reason she was known as the goddess of life.
The exhibition progresses in five thematic areas, in each of which the historical pieces converse with works of contemporary art selected by the curator Rosa Martínez. Passion and desire Magic and evil. Justice and defense… Outspoken, ambitious and independent women provoke suspicion or contempt, even more so if they are single or have no children, like Marina Abramovi?, whose Dragon Heads is being projected, a performance in which the artist challenges the python (symbol of the Medusa and the demon) that runs through her body as she controls her emotions and body heat (the smell of fear) that could lead to a fatal bite. But as early as the 16th century, Hans Baldung Grien openly mocks women designated as witches with an ironic depiction of one of those evil beings flying backwards with a broom and a goat, a symbol of lust. Also Lilith, Adam’s first wife who refused to get under him when he made love, flew away transformed into a child-abducting devil.
The final section, Compassion and Salvation, focuses on Mary and her Quranic counterpart, Maryam, and also on the Buddhist goddess of mercy, Guanyin, who began as a male enlightened being. In a French representation we see Mary holding Jesus as he steps on a monster symbol of evil.
