She Who Tells a Story at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA)

What do you think when you see a women wearing a headscarf or a veil? Works by artist Boushra Almutawakel explore the perception of sartorial hijabs across Islamic and Western cultures. Discussion of the veil is a contentious topic—some Westerners believe all veiling is compulsory, and that women are forced to cover their faces, hair, and bodies; many Muslim women argue that wearing of the veil (be it a hijab, niqab, or burqa) represents devotion to their faith and that doing so is a choice.

In a series of nine photographs, entitled Mother, Daughter, Doll, Almutawakel, her daughter Shaden, and a doll dress in progressively more conservative forms of veiling, moving from street clothes and a colorful headscarf in the first image to a black, full-body niqab in the eighth. The ninth photograph contains only the empty, black backdrop against which the trio had posed, sardonically asking how far veiling can go. While there are pros and cons to wearing a veil, Almutawakel notes that veiling should not be synonymous with weakness or ignorance, and that strong, liberated women can choose to veil.

Middle Eastern artists, like Almutawakel, challenge Western viewpoints on the political and social dynamics at play in Iran and Arab nations using contemporary photography in She Who Tells a Story. Weaving tales through images instead of words, works of 12 notable female photographers are currently on display at the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA); more than 80 large-scale photographs are included in the exhibition and chronicle the artists’ notions of identity, protest, and war using portraiture, documentary photographs, and visual narratives.

Seen through the lenses of women embedded within Iranian and Arab culture, photographs included in this exhibition endeavors museum patrons to move beyond headlines surrounding the Middle East today and to engage in thoughtful discussions on life in a society that is different (or, at times, not so different) than what most Westerners know.

She Who Tells a Story will be on display at NMWA through July 31, 2016. Additional information about the exhibition can be found on the NMWA web site: http://nmwa.org/exhibitions/she-who-tells-story. NMWA urges visitors to share their opinions on She Who Tells a Story using the hashtag #SheWhoTellsAStory. Use of non-flash photography throughout the exhibition is encouraged.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts was incorporated as a private, non-profit museum in 1981, opening its doors to the public in its current location on New York Avenue in 1987; NMWA is the only museum in the world whose sole focus is on celebrating the accomplishments of female artists. The Junior League of Washington has been associated with NMWA since 1983; today, 22 women from the League serve as visitor experience volunteers, staffing the information desk, leading conversation-pieces discussions and tours, and supporting the Museum at a variety of events. Please contact NMWA committee chairwoman, Lori Vitelozzi, at lori@rcn.com with any questions about the committee.

An Art Filled Afternoon at National Museum of Women in the Arts

On Sunday, Feb. 21, Esprit and the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) committees hosted a tour and brunch for JLW members. Attendees saw works by Frida Kahlo, Sarah Bernhardt, Elisabeth Vigee Le Brun and many other great women artists. One of the tours was lead by NMWA Chair, Lori Vitelozzi.

Junior League members discuss portraiture and the work in the center, Young Woman Seated in the Shade of a Tree by Antoine Cecile Hortense Haudebourt-Lescot.
Photo Credit: Sarah Bryant

You too can visit works by these artists and many more at National Museum of Women in the Arts. This Washingtonian gem is located at 1250 New York Ave, NW. The museum has recently offered a discounted supporter level membership to all JLW volunteers. Membership at NMWA includes free admission to the museum, exclusive events, discounts at the museum shop and many other benefits. The membership is also fully tax deductible. Click here to purchase your membership today. We hope you can visit NMWA soon and support the museum as they champion women through the arts.

NMWA Committee Invites League to Pathmakers: Women in Art, Craft and Design, Midcentury and Today

The JLW National Museum of Women in the Arts Committee is excited to share the museum’s current special exhibition, “Pathmakers: Women in Art, Craft and Design, Midcentury and Today.” The pieces exhibited are created with textiles, ceramics and metals. Women artists fifty years ago and today use those materials to elevate what were once categorized as women’s crafts to fine art pieces.

The 1950s were an important time in the history of women artists. Female artists achieved great success at a time when men were dominating the traditional artistic fields of painting, sculpture and architecture. In 1949, Anni Albers, a German-American artist who trained at the Bauhaus school with her husband, had the first one-person show at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City. The exhibition toured the U.S. for three years, establishing Albers as one of the most famous female artists of the day. Her textiles are on display in Pathmakers.

Left: Anni Albers; Right: Tikal Rug, 1958 by Anni Albers on view at Pathmakers

In addition to the groundbreaking Albers show in 1949, MoMA continued to support the growth of female artists. From 1946-56, MoMa collected more women artist created pieces than ever before or since.

The legacy of Albers, and other midcentury artists featured in Pathmakers, is conveyed through the second act of the exhibition that presents works from contemporary female artists and designers. Female artists reflect and expand upon the work of the earlier generation. An entire gallery in the Pathmakers exhibition at NMWA is dedicated to Polly Apfelbaum’s “Handweaver’s Pattern Book.”

Apfelbaum has hung nearly 50 synthetic silk velvet panels covered in tiny dot patterns created with a simple tool—the basic magic marker. The piece’s title comes from a 1944 how-to book for weavers by Marguerite P. Davison. Mechanized weaving was made possible by punch card patterns fed into the machine and threatened the time-honored tradition of craft weavers. Apfelbaum’s work ties together the central theme of Pathmakers in a colorful array—women elevating traditional craft into fine art in the face of modernization.

Handweaver’s Pattern Book, 2014, by Polly Apfelbaum on view at Pathmakers

NMWA was incorporated as a private, nonprofit museum in 1981, opening its doors to the public in its current location on New York Avenue in 1987; NMWA is the only museum in the world whose sole focus is on celebrating the accomplishments of female artists. The Junior League of Washington has been associated with NMWA since 1983; today, 24 women from the League serve as visitor experience volunteers, staffing the information desk, leading conversation-piece discussions and tours, and supporting the museum at a variety of events.

Please contact NMWA Committee Chair, Lori Vitelozzi, at lori@rcn.com with any questions about the committee.