When you walk into a gallery and the two gallery attendants independently explain that this exhibition is curated* well then, you have to look at them all together. This was an excellent exhibition and I wish I could point you to a catalog but alas, I can only point you to a Facebook post. And there is one group of works that I want to talk about specifically.
When we walked into the gallery, the first thing we noticed is this charming lady.
Pia Voetman
Iranian Woman
Acrylic on canvas
90×120
2022
But on the way to look closer, one has to tread carefully. There is a tiny statue on a large 5cm high platform on the floor.
Elke Koch
In prayer
So now it is time to zoom out and look at the whole thing. We can see some angry women to the left, a woven tapestry, a portrait of Malala Yusafsai, and this tiny sculpture in the middle.
Mette Larsen
The sculpture makes me think of pre-historic goddess figures. It’s title, “In Prayer,” provides an important clue to how to look at these works. The wall art are all touching on feminist themes: access to basic human rights such as education and choosing what we do with our own bodies. Women’s work, craft, the often unseen labour that makes our lives liveable.
Anne Merete Nilausen
Malala
Machine-sewn textile image
I mean, this portrait of Malala is a quilt! It’s incredible craftsmanship (crafts_person_ship)
And anchoring these strong, loud statements we have this small, solid prayer: may all of us be equal, may all of us know peace.
*the title of the exhibition, “Censored”, is a Danish word and means “curated”. It’s one of the “false friends” where the Danish word seems similar to an English word but has a different meaning.