Name/TitleZine: Letters to Monica Sjöö
About this objectContemporary zine publication: Letters to Monica Sjöö 2022 in Swedish and English. Edited by Su Fahy and designed by Jan Akesson, the publication comprises 29 pages of copy and illustrations from contributors writing letters to Monica Sjöö on her inspiration to them, from her artworks, activist campaigns, graphic poster works, publications and, in some cases, personal memories. The Zine was published by MSCC to mark the 40th Anniversary of the event ‘Embrace the Base’ 1982, which took place at Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp.
MakerMSCC Monica Sjöö Curatorial Collective
Maker RolePublisher
MakerFahy, Su
Maker RoleEditor
MakerAkesson, Jan
Maker RoleDesigner
Date Made2022
Period2020s
Place MadeEngland, Bristol
Medium and MaterialsOrganic, paper
MeasurementsH: 298 x W: 212 mm
Subject and Association KeywordsArt & design
Subject and Association KeywordsEnvironment - ecology
Subject and Association KeywordsEcofeminism
Subject and Association KeywordsPeace movement
Subject and Association KeywordsPolitical activism
Subject and Association Descriptionhttps://www.monicasjoocuratorial.com/about-monica-sjoo:
In 1970 Monica Sjöö’s painting, God Giving Birth, was confiscated by the police from an exhibition in St Ives on the grounds of blasphemy and Sjöö was threatened with prosecution. This powerful, transgressive work, over 2 metres high, depicting a woman of colour straddling the cosmos and giving birth, is now recognised as an icon of feminist art history.
Monica Sjöö, born in Sweden in 1938, spent most of her life in Bristol, the south west and Wales. She was a key figure on the Women’s Liberation Movement, campaigning, organising, demonstrating. She wrote passionately about the transformative potential of art as a revolutionary act in essays published in an important text that inspired the UK feminist art movement: “Towards a Revolutionary Feminist Art” (1971). Also a pioneering feminist scholar of goddess/matriarchal cultures she produced powerful paintings and also posters, banners, drawings, graphic designs all informed by or at the service of her revolutionary intentions.
Key themes emerge in her art and her activism: the rights of women of all ethnicities, classes and sexualities; the ecological, with a strong sense of interconnectedness with the earth; the spiritual relating to Gaia, goddess worship and sacred sites. Her work resonates strongly with current concerns around climate change, ecological collapse, racial equality and the place of women in global culture.
The moment has come for a full recognition of Monica Sjöö’s contribution to art, radical politics, eco-feminism and Goddess studies.
~ Sue Tate
The Zine publication is available through Moderna Museet Gallery Bookshop in Stockholm and the Arnolfini Gallery Bookshop, UK then in November this year at Modern Art Oxford’s Bookshop to accompany her survey show, ‘The Great Cosmic Mother’ (2022-2023) which opened in Sweden and then tours to the UK.
Named CollectionGlasgow Women's Library
Object TypeZine
Object numberGWL-2023-74
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved