Labyrinth and knitting

I love knitting, always have a thread to make knots and stitches with.

During the Christmas Holidays I knitted a long string for the labyrinth, to tie the old, worn women's shoes with.
Why knitted? Because we have always done it...
Remember Penelope? She un did what she had knitted during the day waiting for Ulises to come... Now even my grandson has asked me to teach him how to knit... And quite a few girls, like Camila, and Julieta, and Emilia and Luisa... and Marcela, and Maria and Laura del Mar...  that I remember of here in Ottawa. Oh, In Colombia I knitted with the group fron "La Asociacion de Mujeres de las Veredas de La Calera"  and other groups. We all have learned how to knit.
I tell the girls, /When you need it. you will remember. The important thing now is to learn how to make some stitches...
And why purple?  remember that poem... " When I am an old woman I shall wear purple"... That is the color for us.
So here is my knitted string that ties the pieces of the installation together.

Getting help

It has been such support to get all this help. The garments, worn shoes, curtains and materials for the Installation from so many people... family, friends and friends of friends.
Photos shared from travels, albums even Ame´s wedding photos.
But even more, those that have come to give me a hand, spend the afternoon working, discussing diverse possibilities for the Installation.
Hanne is a great potter. she has been technical, artistic and fun support during the process of the Installation. But today, Bruce, (Hanne´s husband), who is helping with translation of my work came all the way from Manotick Ontario to get a new copy of the File in Power Point he is working with. As he was working, IT became corrupted. Why does that happen??? We tried to fix it by email. Too big to be sent by Internet. Could not figure out how to do it, so he drove, we had coffee, talked and he went back home with a new copy in a CD in the heavy afternoon traffic, leaving me in AWE... what gift friends are!
Thank you, each for the gift of your time, comments, support and frienship.
It´s Christmas... may it be Joy...

Making the first Sculptures

Maria's embroidered mantilla. It belonged to her grandmother. Women always wore a hat, cap, veil or a mantilla to go to church. Always covered...

Top, a Capulana from Mozambique, from María Isabel Casas' collecton.

With cotton blouse from India that my sister Pilar gave me, bought in the "San Andresito" of Valledupar, Colombia.  

Barbora Balabam lent me this hand painted silk dress done by her friend from Chekoslovaquia.

Lysanne really wore this XXL T shirt in her teens. She is a size 6.

A light Baby doll...and a cotton blouse with a lace bra under cover.

Below: Paula´s wool shawl

Marcela´s shawl made from her Graduation velvet dress with an African cotton wrap'around skirt.

 Libby´s  macrame shawl.

Allyson´s long night skirt with a leather jacket

She wore this lace neck during the wedding with my son Ricardo, 15 years ago. The black veil is what widows wear on their head and the small cap is from the ¨Cancer marathon run¨ in Seattle, June 2008.

This sculpture is ¨Honoring Claudia¨. She died of Ovarian Cancer in January 2008

Allyson´s corduroy jacket with a gold pashmina

Fashion in the ´70´s

Jeans, cotton tops and a handmade belt from Guatemala

Inviting OGP Potters to participate in the Installation

During the November OGP meeting the theme was the past Fall Sale at the Hellenic Centre in Ottawa. I asked for 5 minutes to talk about my Installation. the response was inmetiate, they got it... an applause and several potters came forward to offer treasures for my work. ..."I have this beautiful dress I brought from India, you may haave it"... "I have a special curtain from Chekoslovaquia, some embroidered blouses and garments, if you find use for them"...  "My sister died of Cancer four years ago. She was a beautiful woman, always in fashion; but she had these old worn slippers... I have kept. Will bring them tothe next meeting and you may have them" ... and so on.

During the December meeting many treasures came: old worn shoes, shawls, jean skirts and tops from the '70, garments from India, Latinamerica and items teens used here in the past century. Andthe beautiful pink old worn slippers that Marie's sistor wore 'till death. Thank you Potters and friends... I have been working with all these, and already have about half the sculptures made.

Finding worn women's shoes

How to find 150 to 200 old shoes? The next question.
I started just by asking frinds and family for their old, worn, women's shoes... So the first 20 pairs came... from a "size 0" baby's booties to beautiful old worn sandals and walking boots. Street shoes, high heels, old fashioned, sport and running shoes. As I made the design of the Labyrinth I guessed I will need about 150, where to go? Value Village, no luck. They sell the left ovrs to be sent toafrica and Latin America. wac. I felt nausea... the "garbage old shoes that noone wants?" I asked the person in charge. Yes. After explaining that I will be doing an Installation to Walk a Labyrinth alongside waling women, displaced women, violence against women... no way. I sould not buy their rejects for my show. I left with this feeling of pain, why do we have to get the garbage from them? I felt SO Latinamerican...

When I tlod the story to a friend, she said, try St. Vincent de Paul. They have a different approch. Try it. So I went with the boxing gloves in my pocket, just in case. And I met a compassionate woman, the Director. She understood my art statement with the old worn shoes, no, I will give them to you, don't have to pay me anything. we are working for the same cause, from different ends. Will call you when we have some for you. And I left feeling light and that my message does go through, sometimes. Soon I got a call, -come pick up a bag of shoes. Yes! they are perfect! Worn, old fashined, all stiles, all kinds. So far I have received four bags full of the precious gift for the Installation, so we wil be able to walk alongside displaced women, poor walking women from many places. I have made a selection and so far we have 100.

Then what about baefoot walking? I've been wih many of them.... 

Contact with UNAM in Gatineau

Coming back from Bogotá, visiting my family and friends, traveling to the beautiful mountains and the small town of Villa de Leyva where our sister Margarita and Alvaro live and we end up buying a small piece of land near them looking at the mountain to the west, in front looking north and Iguaque, the great mountain looking south!.

But specially talking with them and with artists I have full sails to start to work.

My dear friend, Artist and Universidad Nacional de Colombia Professor Marta Combariza give me ideas, names of artists that have worked the relationship of women-body, Islam-women-West, Installations with garments and ideas.  The first thing to do is sketches, photos and writting. What is the question I look for? So I sit and write.

• Who would like to visit an Installation, Walking a labyrinth with women?
• Or is it for walking alongside displaced women?
• Who really looks at the way we dress, we cover, how conscious are we?
• why do we cover up, uncover, disguise, expose our body... ?
• what is protection, fashion or politics... who is the boss of our body?
• The way we cover, have covered, is it related to our culture, fashion, imposition, economic situation, religion, tradition? 

And on and on. After some time it becomes a Proposal for the Gallery, will they support my idea?

The First Proposal (in English) (in Spanish) finally comes out.

An appointment with The Director of UNAM, the branch the Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México in Canada, Maestra Sara Martínez. So we meet and talk. I feel she gets it. She is enthusiastic about it, gives me a great feed back, even offers to look for women´s music, appropiate for the event. So, Rosario, Start to work.

I invite 10 Artist-friends for a barbecue dinner at our lovely back yard to talk, share the idea, see what they think and move one step forward. Eight come, we have a fun evening and I receive all their ideas, offers of support and ideas. Hanne and Bruce  are traveling to Argentina soon, but they offer time, work and support. Other friends come by my Studio, drop in, bring garments and ideas. I get a good feed back. My dear friend Sue spends the whole day here, reviewing the floor plan, the sculptures  have so far, giving me ideas, for she has experience on setting up eshibits. She offers a violet  ¨bridesmaid¨ dress we will have to work in a special way along with Hanne's evening gown. My daughter Maria bring some of her treasures: Spanish embroidered ¨mantillas¨ that belonged to her grandmothers, two beautiful Capulanas given to her by María Isabel Casas, who lived in Mozambique and has a great collection of these hand printed shawls to wrap around the body. My other friend, Barbora invites me for tea and she has a box ready for me with beautiful tzech embroidered pieces that belonged to her great grand mother in Prague. Two embroidered gray linen curtains that were hung at the corner of the room where the pregnant woman delivered her baby. Slowly all starts to move in place.

How to show the garment so it does not look like a sidewalk second hand sale? how to transform these garments and shows into art? Again, try different ways, have a feed back form María, my Maestra. And I start to transform these pieces of cloth, shawls, hats, caps, fancy outfits, small girls dresses or veils, all beautiful women´s worn garments into sculptures. I start to feel the woman who it is representing, slowly my ¨empty bodies¨ start to become alive.

How to work the Installation, more questions

How to do it?

Art is my language... what media shall I use? I mix... have always done it.

When making a soup I mix grains and veggies, spices and herbs... each time something new comes out. When making bread, I don't measure, I just mix tree basic elements: flours, water and some form of yeast... then whatever comes at hand I add: an egg, butter, salt, sugar, chopped nuts, fruit, vegetables...

What will I mix in my Mixed Media Installation on the question "Why do we cover our body... and all the questions that came out from it. Why? Culture, religion, tradition, protecton, service... sex... fasion... why?

So I start to look. Loot at myself, look at othe women, what do we wear here, now? and before? and before that? just at the beginning of the XX century our skirts started to shorten. So, who is behind our decition to cover, disguise, hide, protect, expose, undress... why?



Ghada Amer has confronted feminine vs. masculine, East vs. West, and high art vs. craft. She is best known for her use of the great symbols of feminist ire: embroidery as "woman's work," hardcore pornography, and religious fundamentalism 's work is centred on the relationship between eastern and western cultures, Islam and women; she works embroidery, textiles and gel medium... astonishing work! (Born in Egypt 1963, moved to France, now lives in New York)



Another Artist I have found is Shirin Neshat works mainly with photography, one of her themes was "The women of Allah" and she works from within... when I found her story I had the flash: That is what I need for my Installation, work from within!!! She also works from the perspective of two cultural backgrounds (Iranian born, lives in the West) and she focuses in her Installations and photography on the social developments of contemporary Islam, on conditions of women in Iran and other Islamic countries.

If you wish to know a bit more about me, visit my Blog at http://rosario-umana.blogspot.com/

A Labyrinth, mixing worn shoes, garments and photos, as an answer on how to do it.

How to work with garments? All of them.

Those that cover or protect, hide or expose our body. Function and use...

What about shoes? I have made a statemet in order to ¨walk alongside women¨. Displaced women by war or violence. I haave partiipated in several exhibitions with sculptures about Violence Against Women.  For some time I have had the idea of working with their worn shoes. In May, at Chandler´s birthday I comment the idea of the Installation to my friend Claire: the question about covering our bodies and where this is taking me by the hand and also about the desire to work with shoes in a Labyrinth. "Do them both!" she said. And we talk about it... Yes, why not? I told her about our experience with labyrinths as a spiritual path. Working with labyrinths has been a long experience with my community of friends in Bogotá, since about 20 years ago. The group continues with the guidance of Padre Jorge Julio Mejia SJ and there is a Yahoo-group with more than 500 people called ¨Laberinto¨.

I start to write, make sketches, discuss the idea with my family other friends and artists and slowly it takes shape. I will make a mixed Media Installation  combining four artistic expressions: sculptures with garments, a labyrinth to walk with women´s worn shoes, some of my photos and the core of it all, a large sculpture...  a seed?.

Where the Installation questions comes From

2008 I find a wonderful book: The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. Dinah is the daughter of Jacob from the Book of Genesis. Fascinating. Bible times, life in the dessert, midwifes, birthing in The Red Tent. Fear, the life cycles, death. Womanly strength and Wisdom under the stars, under tents in the dessert. Names I knew from childhood like Esau and Jacob, Rebecca and Deborah, Isaac and Rachel; Canaan and Egypt. Judah and Joseph. Lives of several generations and questions started to arise in me. How did they live in the dessert? When did they settle and how did their rituals and faith change? It was a patriarchal society, how was their role, social structure, how were decisions taken? How did these women dress? how were they protected, how was life in that Red Tent in this nomad tribes? So I continue inquiring, reading about Middle East and Central Asia's history. The war in Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq, all that is going on in this XXI Century and I see the images of towns in the dessert thinking, not so different from Biblical times. More questions about women's life in the land of conflict, in my own country, Colombia. Questions about each region, traditions, religion, geography. What is common, how are we the same from the gatherings in the Red Tent.
So the question comes, -Why do women dress the way they do? Why do they cover up? How do we expose or protect our body. and more questions of the same. This new year of 2009 starts with more news about the wars in Middle East, Iraq, Afghanistan and all of Central Asia. A new book appears, fascinating. Descent into Chaos written by Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist who writes for several news media, BBC Online, The International Herald Tribune, The Washington Post, The London Daily Telegraph and appears in the news in the BBC World Service, CNN and other media. Trying to understand what is going on, the politics and recent history, the conflict, Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Fascinating. But the questions repeat themselves, I find myself under the pressure of doing something in order to understand what is behind, go deeper in. And as always, I think, what and how is all this affecting women there? how are their lives and roles changed? what does it all have to do with Central Asia and Middle Eastern history, culture, politics, traditions, religious beliefs? How do they live? how and why do they dress as they do? How are women's garments related with their culture, tradition, fashion, social relations? with their role with men?
The question repeats itself over and over... So. I must do something in order to understand, to communicate these questions to others, go to the core. Go deep in. Inside myself, inside my body and traditions, culture and views and talk about the question as it becomes more complex. Since Art is my language, well I will work an Installation related to the way we cover our bodies and all those questions I have inside. -Why do we cover our bodies? why do we uncover, when and why... for whom do we do it... there is sex, maternity, relationship, service, fashion, function... how can I work all these questions?