Name/TitleThe Ancient Religion of The Great Cosmic Mother Of All
MakerSjöö, Monica
Maker RoleAuthor
MakerMor, Barbara
Maker RoleEditor
About this objectSlim publication titled 'The Ancient Religion of The Great Cosmic Mother Of All' by Monica Sjöö, edited and extended by Barbara Mor, and dedicated to "the women who were burned as Witches in Europe during three centuries of the most terrible persecution of women. They were the suffering Sainthood of Herstory." The main headings are:
- A Personal Introduction
- Part 1: Women's Early Culture
- Part 2: Women's Early Religion
- Part 3: Women's Culture and Religion in Neolithic Times
- Part 4: Patriarchal Culture and Religion
- Notes
Medium and MaterialsOrganic, paper
MeasurementsH: 290 x W: 208 x D: 5 mm
Date Made1981
Period1980s
Place MadeNorway, Trondheim
PublisherRainbow Press
Publication Date1981
Publication PlaceNorway, Trondheim
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
Subject and Association Keywordsreligion & spirituality
Subject and Association KeywordsGoddess, Cosmic Mother
Named CollectionGlasgow Women's Library
Object TypePublication
ISBN/ISSN87-7223-012-7
Object numberGWL-2016-118-2
Copyright LicenceAll rights reserved