By Henry Akubuiro
Two years after the Museum of Black Women In History (MoBWIH) was announced in Nigeria, the British Museum, U.K, has opened Feminine Power, an exhibition that considers the influence of female spiritual power and what femininity means today.
The exhibition, said the curator, “seeks to explore the significant role that goddesses, demons, witches, spirits and saints have played – and continue to play – in shaping our understanding of the world.
Drawn from different traditions, the exhibition interrogates femininity and how female authority has been perceived in ancient cultures, using divine and demonic figures feared and revered for over 5,000 years. From wisdom, passion and desire, to war, justice and mercy, the diverse expression of female spiritual powers around the world have prompted the British Museum to reflect on how we perceive femininity and gender identity today.
By bringing together sculptures, sacred objects and artworks from the ancient world to today, and from six continents, the exhibition “highlights the many faces of feminine power – ferocious, beautiful, creative or hell-bent – and its seismic influence throughout time.”
Female icons, such as the Osun goddess, in Osogbo, as well as the myth of Mammy Water, are part of the Feminine Power exhibition, which opened in May, and runs till September 25, 2022 at the British Museum, London.
Also exhibited include the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, Pele, which reveals how her destructive capacity is venerated alongside her ability to create; the Buddhist bodhisattva of compassion, who transcends gender and is visualised in male form in Tibet; just as female in China and Japan uncovers the importance of gender fluidity in some spiritual traditions.
Visitors to the exhibition will also behold the Hindu goddess, Kali, depicted in art carrying a severed head and bloodied sword, and honoured as the Great Mother and liberator from fear and ignorance.
The exhibition came two years after the late Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Adeyemi III, announced that a museum on black women will be built in Oyo, under his grand patronage. Bonnie Greer, a former Deputy Chair, British Museum Board of Trustee, is a collaborator in the exhibition, together with Mary Beard, Elizabeth Day, Rabia Siddique and Deborah Frances-White.
It’s expected that when the MoBWIH hits the ground running, on a 50 hectares land in Oyo town, Southwest of Nigeria — donated to Oranyan Heritage Foundation (OHF) — notable names in women leadership across the black world would serve as subjects of research for the contents of the facility. It is a project of the founder of OHF and Iya-laje of Oyo, Chief (Mrs) Comfort Titilola Orija-Adesoye.
Greer had assured that “a museum dedicated to the achievements of Nigerian, African and all women, past and present, is an idea that I want to be a part of.” She added that the scope, depth and reach, “based in Oyo, will be ground-breaking.”
Recalling the role played by the late Alaafin Adeyemi, Lanre Olagoke, co-founder of project consultant, Lumin-Artica Nigeria Ltd, said: “Alaafin Adeyemi of blessed memory was very delighted that Greer, an expert in museum management was involved in the proposed-Museum of Black Women In History and gave his assurance that apart from the 50 hectares of land he donated for OHF, more supports will be given to the project.”
Olagoke, an artist and founder of U.K-based Art-Alive, said, currently, Lumin-Artica is welcoming research entries for interested historians to submit entries on past black women leaders to: [email protected]