Thursday 25 September 2008

Birthrites exhibition

Current exhibition at Manchester Museum 'Birthrites' has some interesting work by 5 contemporary artists on the theme of Childbirth (collaborations between artists & childbirth practitioners).
www.birthrites,org.uk/ & www.manchester.ac.uk/museum
Artists Hermione Wiltshire, Jaygo Bloom, Andy Lawrence.
Sketches & oil paintings by Suzanne Holborn - after observing & filming assisted vaginal & caesarian deliveries, foetal screening & counselling sessions for women with abnormal pregnancies. Painting 'Contact' has "out of control, dripping & lactating" paint in contrast with the hard-edged technology surrounding a mother & newborn. 'Adebar' connects caesareans to mythology, where a stork has a dark side, the bringer-of-the-wound. 'Room 7 2+4' has a woman on a bed being peered at by midwives, illustrating the bed as a barrier.
Ceramics by artist Ping Qiu. 'Ur-form' is a family grouping of ceramic vessels made during residency at Chinese Arts Centre, Manchester. "These works resonate with archaic imagery of fertility goddeses" (from accompanying leaflet).
Fascinating stuff.

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