by Diana Serbe
If there is a reason
to celebrate, it is that we now have Paola Gianturco's beautiful new
book, Celebrating Women. With dazzling photographs and vibrant
prose, Celebrating Women takes us to festivals and celebrations
around the world. Some are indigenous, some familiar, but all have
one thing in common: they honor women. Spanning five continents, the
variety of festivals startles. Frequently, the female attribute being
honored shocks.
With a camera around her neck,
author/photographer Gianturco spent five years traveling from continent
to continent discovering festivals of many cultures. She did not stand
outside the circle clicking, but became an active participant. Her
empathy with all women created an intimacy that shines in the pages
of her book.
The variety of festivals takes
us from the expected to the shocking. Gianturco presents the Sankta
Lucia festival of light, (pictured above) held in Sweden on the eve
of the winter solstice, and we aren't startled to see women honored
for their gentleness. But Gianturco dares us to not be complacent.
She moves on to the celebration of the Indian goddess Kali, the ferocious
and militant goddess of destruction, and we must pause to ask ourselves
if we have confined our thinking. She has recorded festivals celebrating
women for being fun-loving or brave, flirtatious or political, for
being family providers or warriors. She has even taken a look at the
much derided Miss America Pageant and asks us to pause, look at the
women walking that runway, reappraise their goals and intentions.
Urging us to look carefully at who we are as women, Celebrating
Women breaks away from the narrow boundaries of role, to say that
we are the sum of many parts.
What speaks most clearly through
the book is the spirit of the author herself, her empathy with all
women, her desire to guarantee that all women be heard, her belief
in women as multifaceted, strong. "The spectrum is inspiring.
It can help us understand why we are
who we are and what we can become,” Paola said. Gianturco is
not a polemicist, however. She is a photographer, a writer, a participant
in the festivals, and it is her clarity of vision that speaks through
this book, affirming the strength of women the world over.
To see more of this book, please
click on her web site: www.celebratingwomen.com To read an excerpt "Celebrating Women as Nourishers" click
here
The International Museum of Women
has presented a multimedia exhibit based on Gianturco's photography,
recordings and festival artifacts.
About
the International Museum of Women:
Chronicling and honoring the lives of women around the world, the
museum will address many complex social and political issues. It will
also provide an interactive and entertaining place for museum patrons
of all ages to learn more about history, culture and art. The museum
is timely, as the global community is seeking to better understand
the diversity of women's experiences and contributions in shaping
societies around the world.
"We envision a world where
all voices are heard and valued equally and each person is treated
with respect and dignity; a society free from inequality, oppression
and discrimination, where each person is in control of her/his own
destiny and where people work together to find peaceful resolution
to conflict. We will contribute to this world by exploring the history
of women and contemporary gender issues, and, through education, serving
as a catalyst for continued social, cultural, economic and political
change." http://www.imow.org/home.html
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