The Mapleside Musuem of Miniature Art supports local artists’ work by showcasing tiny zines with their unique perspectives on life
The Mapleside Museum of Miniature Art is a tiny art gallery located on Mapleside Avenue. The gallery operates on the same principles as a Little Free Library, where people are able to take and leave behind a book in little stands around neighbourhoods. In this case, art is displayed in the gallery and people are able to leave behind work, take some home or simply just take a quick look around.
Matt Coleman, founder of MMOMA, is a local high school art teacher with the Halton District School Board. As a Hamilton native, Coleman started the MMOMA during the pandemic as a way to facilitate connections within the community using art.
On Mar. 4, the MMOMA opened its first-ever miniature zine show where people are able to look at tiny-sized magazines created by artists. Zines are unpublished publications made by artists for the purpose of highlighting personal opinions and perspectives. They are self-published by the creator and are often less formal in nature.
Coleman was inspired to create a zine show by the zine symposium organized by the Zine Club at Hamilton Central Branch library. Coleman thought the event was a fun way to share zines and art with others and promote a sense of community.
“The ultimate purpose [of the zine show] is to build community and have a moment of connection to other creators and other artists . . . [To] read these little zines and take one with you [to] brighten your day [is] a small but important goal,” he explained.
“The ultimate purpose [of the zine show] is to build community and have a moment of connection to other creators and other artists . . . [To] read these little zines and take one with you [to] brighten your day [is] a small but important goal."
Matt Coleman, founder of MMOMA
The miniature zines showcased through MMOMA includes work done by Coleman’s high school students as well as contributions from the local community and beyond. Visitors to the MMOMA can drop off any zine they create while also taking a copy of someone else’s zine home with them.
What makes MMOMA’s zine show stand out from other zine symposiums is the miniature nature of the size of the art and the personal content expressed in them.
“The unique part of [the MMOMA zine show] is the diminutive stature of the scenes. We're going to put up with the display of all the miniature scenes that people have started to drop off,” said Coleman.
Already, the zine show has received wide geographic interest, with international artists mailing in their pieces to Coleman.
“I've been communicating with a few people in California; someone else in in Brussels, Belgium, wants to participate [and] someone else in Korea,” Coleman stated.
Coleman encourages people to check out the show as a fun, interactive way to look at the various experiences and forms of expression. It is a new way to learn about unique perspectives and share art.
The zines can also be a good way to support the artistic side of Hamilton and hear people’s opinions and views on life.
Art Gallery of Hamilton’s new exhibit shows the process behind digitizing art
Art has early origins and continues to be relevant today. It’s important to collect and record art as a way of documenting history. However, what happens when art is documented but not immediately put up for display? They become a part of a collection of pieces hidden from the world.
The Art Gallery of Hamilton aims to address this issue with its Collections Digitization Project which began in Spring 2022 and will conclude in Spring 2024. The project aims to digitize many of the works kept in the vaults at AGH.
Andrea Howard, digitization collections assistant, emphasized that as the AGH is a publicly funded resource, it’s important to provide the public access to pieces which aren’t always on display. Moreover, the project team is prioritizing putting on underrepresented artists, such as Black, Indigenous and Persons of Colour and women artists.
“It is a really necessary project because we have well over 10,000 objects in our collection. The physical space that we have here at the museum means that we can only display 5 per cent of those works at a given time. That means the bulk of our works are in a vault and they're hidden from the public,” said Howard.
“It is a really necessary project because we have well over 10,000 objects in our collection. The physical space that we have here at the museum means that we can only display 5 per cent of those works at a given time. That means the bulk of our works are in a vault and they're hidden from the public."
Andrea Howard, digitization collections assistant
The project is funded by the Museums Assistance Program, specifically the Digital Access to Heritage, which is a program of the Department of Canadian Heritage. The funds were important for hiring people for the project, obtaining necessary licenses and receiving commissions and equipment.
The project has many aspects, one of which is focused on showcasing the process of digitizing art works. This exhibition will begin on Feb. 11, 2023 and will include installations and a behind the scenes look at the digitization process. Howard’s hope is to connect with the general population and show the public how much work goes into digitization.
“A part of this project has become an exhibition, that is going to be launching on [Feb. 11]. That exhibition is in part a digitization lab [and] part installation where we exhibit works and show some kind of hidden digitization labor that occurs in art museums,” said Howard.
“A part of this project has become an exhibition, that is going to be launching on [Feb. 11]. That exhibition is in part a digitization lab [and] part installation where we exhibit works and show some kind of hidden digitization labor that occurs in art museums."
Andrea Howard, digitization collections assistant
Howard believes the Hamilton community will find the exhibit to be engaging. She’s worked closely with the AGH docents, who have shared positive feedback for the exhibit.
One of their more recent programs at AGH called Fridays at Four gives those curious a virtual look at the AGH’s permanent collection. Given the docents extensive knowledge on the collections within the museum, Howard is aware their feedback is vital. They’ve expressed how happy they are to see more pieces being digitalized and how they are being shared with visitors.
“I know from my experience with the docent . . . that they’re really excited about the growing number of images they are seeing and having access to. I know we have been getting a lot of engagement on social media with our images and I’m excited to see where it jumps off from there,” said Howard.
Currently, the AGH is working on three dimensional printing as part of the digitization project. The goal of this is to have art pieces 3D printed as a way to engage visitors in a new way. It will also allow for pieces to be preserved and protected, which is valuable in the storage of artworks.
“Our hope is to not only create 3D renderings that will live online, but also from those 3D renderings have some of our works 3D printed. That’ll be a really great way for the programming department to pass around our objects to feel,” said Howard.
The AGH hopes that people will come together to learn about the complex tools used to preserve artwork. They hope the project itself will be able to highlight work that isn’t always displayed and allow for work to be presented in a new format. The exhibit is one of the first ways in which visitors can see the direct process that goes behind digitizing works.
‘Tis the season to visit these five Instagram-worthy murals in Hamilton.
As we enter early December, winter is beginning to loom over us. This means the sun sets earlier, signifying the end of daylight-saving hours and our days are bleaker with dropping temperatures. Visiting these murals around Hamilton could be a way to brighten your day with their vibrant and unique art styles and interesting backstories as well as an excellent opportunity to explore Hamilton.
Charlton Avenue
This colourful mural featuring a girl with a squirrel, raccoon and bird was designed by Robyn Lightwalker and painted by Natasha Rose, Anthony Haley and Felipe Encina over a four-day period. Lightwalker attempted to portray a version of how humans and animals could be living in harmony in an urban environment.
Durand Coffee building
This mural was painted by Tyler Van Holst. He recently repainted this over his previous “Greetings Hamilton” mural, which has been weathered over the past several years. This new mural, featuring dogs and a cat, tie in more to the idea of what makes this neighbourhood a great place to live in and they hope that the mural will put a smile on everyone’s face.
Concession Street
This mural was painted by Kyle Joedicke, a local Haudenosaunee artist who primarily focuses on Indigenous art, specifically Woodland-style art. This mural portrays the teachings of the seven grandfathers: respect, symbolized by a buffalo; truth, symbolized by a turtle; love, symbolized by a bald eagle; wisdom, symbolized by a beaver; courage, symbolized by a bear; humility, symbolized by a wolf; and honesty, symbolized by a sabe. Through his art, he wants to promote a strong sense of community and share his culture.
John Street
This mural, created by local street artist Scott McDonald, is designated for Hamilton Tiger-Cat fans who adore Angelo Mosca like him. McDonald grew up watching every game with his parents and wanted to use one of his favourite childhood memories to represent an iconic Hamilton figure. He is a former graffiti artist who now creates mesmerizing murals.
West Avenue South
This mural “Raise” was painted by a local brother duo, Norman and Lester Coloma, to represent an ambitious city. It illustrates men and women attempting to raise a giant hammer with the help of red ropes against a white background. In the piece, the hammer represents the city and Hamiltonians are working together to lift Hamilton, suggesting the city’s optimistic future.
Overall, these murals are worth a visit and provide you a chance to explore Hamilton and its hidden artistic side. You will find local talent you may not have come across before. Studies have shown that immersing yourself in art will improve your overall mood and mental well-being. Immersing yourself in art is a great way to uplift your mood in the middle of the winter through Hamilton’s signature, bright art style.
Local family business creates heartfelt, handmade wood burned gifts
My Dad & Me Everyday Ornaments is a local, father and daughter small business selling handmade wood burned ornaments and custom wood burned home decor.
Before launching My Dad & Me Everyday Ornaments seven years ago with her dad, Sarah Barnhart was working as a window display stylist in Toronto. She went back to school to pursue nursing. During this time, she discovered her love for yoga through a doula course and instead completed yoga teacher training. Since then, she has been teaching yoga and mindful movement.
In addition to being a yoga teacher and running My Dad & Me Everyday Ornaments, Barnhart also manages Fruit Salad Hamilton , which runs events for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.
The launch of My Dad & Me Everyday Ornaments was not something Barnhart ever imagined or expected. She was bringing pickles made by her friend to a pop-up market hosted by another friend in Collingwood when her parents encouraged her to bring her dad’s wood-burned ornaments as well.
Unexpectedly, people ended up being more interested in the ornaments than the pickles and their wood burning business grew from there.
Initially Barnhart’s father did all the wood burning but now she does most of the wood burning while her dad prepares the wood. My Dad & Me Everyday Ornaments is one of the few wood businesses that continues to use traditional wood burning techniques. Most of wood burned products today either paint or use laser engraving. whereas in Barnhart’s business, her dad, Bob Barnhart, creates their cut discs and cut wood from branches, making each product unique. Everything at the store is entirely handmade by the father and daughter duo—from putting on the patterns by hand to hand burning, painting and furnishing the final product.
Today, their business has evolved beyond ornaments to include various types of home decor.
Barnhart hopes her and her dad’s products will make their customers feel like they have something special and meaningful enough to potentially pass it along the family generation as an heirloom.
“I hope [customers] feel like they have something special that is unique and they can use it like something special to create tradition,” said Barnhart.
Recently, the duo started making custom recipe boards where they hand burn a person’s handwriting onto a recipe board to be used as either a serving board or hung up as a piece of art.
“It becomes a family heirloom. It's a family recipe. It's something that somebody already loves, and then it becomes something more permanent that can't get lost,”
Sarah Barnhart, founder of My Dad & Me Everyday Ornaments
Their future plans are still up in the air, but the Barnharts plan on sustaining the business and continuing with customs as long as they can.
The Quirky AF art fair is a chance to celebrate all things unconventional, quirky and weird this art crawl weekend
As we head into November, many of us are beginning to think about the holidays and the gift-giving season again. Along with events like Hamilton Day and the BIPOC Market, the Quirky AF art fair on Nov. 11 and 12 hosted by Hamilton Artists Inc. aims to help the community with their shopping and support local businesses and artists this winter.
Quirky AF art fair was first introduced in 2019 during an Art Crawl weekend on James St. N. The fair was created to showcase unique works by avant-garde makers and artists and to foster space for critical and challenging contemporary art practices addressing regional and national discourses. Attendees at the event able to find whimsical, experimental and overall quirky art, crafts and items.
“The aim of [Quirky AF art fair] is to bring together crafters and designers from across the region, who challenge expectations and take risks with work that is unconventional, experimental, political or all-around weird and quirky,” said Rachelle Wunderink, interdisciplinary artists and a member of the special events committee at Hamilton Artists Inc., in a email statement to The Silhouette.
“The aim of [Quirky AF art fair] is to bring together crafters and designers from across the region, who challenge expectations and take risks with work that is unconventional, experimental, political or all-around weird and quirky,”
Rachelle Wunderink, Interdisciplinary artist and member of the special events committee at Hamilton Artists' Inc.
In 2020, the event was held online due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, this November, after taking a break last year, it is finally back in-person and the team is excited to bring folks back into their space. This year, the fair will feature jewelry, prints, ceramics, toys, clothing, accessories and housewares from artisans and makers in Hamilton and the surrounding regions.
“We are so excited to welcome students and the Hamilton community back into our physical space after [the COVID-19 pandemic]. . .We hope all students will come out to celebrate with us,” said Wunderink.
Interested attendees can check out the Inc.’s Instagram page to learn more about each participating vendor. If any of the works or items interest you, this holiday season, get creative and gift something unique and bizarre by visiting the Quirky AF art fair on 155 James Street North this Art Crawl weekend.
C/O nichola feldman-kiss | Artist, Bob McNair | Photographer
Artist nichola feldman-kiss presents Scapegoat, a critique of the colonial paradigm
CW: Death, implied violence
The latest exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art, Scapegoat, critiques the colonial paradigm—the violent story of domination and submission—through displays of biological metaphors for the geopolitics and conflict. The exhibition will be available until Mar. 18 with advanced admission booking.
Artist nichola feldman-kiss began Scapegoat in 2015 following a series of works after the their deployment on a United Nations Mission to Sudan in 2011 as part of the Canadian Forces Artists Program.
The exhibition features hybrid-media installations, including photography, audio, video, digital and performative pieces. The aim is to bring to attention the injustices perpetuated by settler-colonialism structures. In the current era of heightened social awareness and responsibility, feldman-kiss’ work creates space for conversation around peace, reconciliation, recognition, decolonization and repatriation.
Since returning from Sudan in 2011, feldman-kiss has been attempting to make sense of what they saw and experienced through projects such as Between here and there.
Scapegoat attempts to uncover what is missing or left unspoken in the narrative about wars and world conflicts which are often told and fragmented by those who dominate the conversation, particularly those in power.
“I’m very suspicious about what is written down because when I approach what is written down, I know there is something missing. Sudan revealed to me a lot about what is missing, what is all contained in the narrative, what kinds of narratives are crafted for the Western press audience and how those of us who have not seen [the conflict first-hand] have very little capacity to imagine.
nichola feldman-kiss
Part of what is missing in these narratives are the identities and lives behind the death toll statistics. When human bodies are reduced to mere numbers, questions remain about their story, including who they were, where they lived, who is missing them, who is grieving them and why they went to war. An initial aversion to the plight of the sufferer (Pietà), was built upon these questions to reconnect the disembodied souls.
Between here and there / Human Toll is a sound piece in which a speech synthesizer reads the worldwide death statistic database from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program.
feldman-kiss’ worked with human skeletal sets to personify the death statistics further. . An initial aversion to the plight of the sufferer (Pietà is a series of photographic portraits of young men cradling the skeletal set by those who approximate the age of the specimen. It may be discomforting to see — but that is the point. The demographic in the pieces reflect the victims of state violence in the global statistical records.
The human skeletal sets used in the piece, originally intended for use in the medical field, were obtained from a Canadian osteological specimen supplier.
“I made that purchase [of human osteological specimens], that gesture, as another demonstration of the sort of between-here-and-there that I was experiencing from the original trip to Sudan. . .I, as a regular Canadian person, that world was so far away from my capacity to perceive it through this constant [thought] of, ‘Yes, this really happened,’” said feldman-kiss.
An important experience part of the previous project, Between here and there, and the current exhibition, Scapegoat, was feldman-kiss’ trip to India to learn about the human bone trade. A human bone specimen supplier gave feldman-kiss access to his full inventory for the video piece Scales of Justice and was a valuable resource for this project.
Caption: Still from The King’s two Bodies Scales of Justice 2016. Video projection (performance mediation).
“[Scales of Justice] came out of that experience. . .So that was an important experience for me to be able to bring empathy to the body of work which is in the exhibition Scapegoat,” explained feldman-kiss.
Altogether, Scapegoat allows its audience to reflect on the colonial paradigm by demanding confrontation with the reality of the current geopolitical landscape—a world in which marginalized folks, including people of low socioeconomic status and Black, Indigenous and People of Colour are disproportionately targeted and represented in armed casualties.
Through the culmination of works since 2015, Scapegoat facilitates grief, reflection and reimagination of a different, decolonized world.
*This article has been updated for clarity. We thank our friends at McMaster Museum of Art for clarifying key aspects of Scapegoat. For more information, visit museum.mcmaster.ca/exhibition/nichola-feldman-kiss-scapegoat/.
C/O Jessica Yang
Holding space for the stories closest to our hearts
One of the first articles I wrote for the Silhouette was for the 2020 Sex and the Steel City issue. As I struggled to come up with an idea, I remember feeling daunted and underqualified to tackle the topics at the heart of the issue. I agonized over that article, rewriting it half a dozen times before I got a draft I was even remotely happy with. But after, I also appreciated the space writing that article offered me to think about the questions of love, intimacy and relationships—and then the space the issue offered to read the stories and thoughts of others as well.
Just like that early article, I’ve agonized over this issue, too. When I started planning it, I felt just as daunted and underqualified as I did before. Sex and the Steel City is a unique special issue, close to the hearts of so many people and I wanted to do justice to that, but I didn’t know what I had to bring to the issue.
And I kept thinking about the space that first article gave me, the spaces I’ve strived to offer interviewees as a reporter and my writers as an editor, and I thought about the unique, wonderful safety inherent in community — in a space where you are free to not only be yourself but also able to even just figure out who you are to begin with, without having to worry about protecting yourself or the expectations of others and knowing you have people in your corner who see you and will support you.
This same sense of safety, of community, is a key part of Sex and the Steel City. It’s what allows this issue to offer the space it does to not only its contributors to share the stories closest to their hearts, but also to its readers to feel seen and heard, to know they are not alone. In this year’s issue, we’ve tried to honour the importance of community, highlight the ones that have built us up as well as those we’ve built through love, intimacy and relationships.
Sex and the Steel City is a community project, a true labour of love. Thank you to everyone who contributed to this issue, who shared their stories and their artwork; it has been a privilege to hear your stories over these past few weeks. Thank you to everyone on staff who wrote for and created and organized this issue. This will be the largest issue of the Silhouette to date and it wouldn’t have been possible without you.
For everyone who reads this issue, though, I hope you feel some of that same sense of community, too. I hope you can see yourself somewhere in these pages, even if it’s just in one image or one story, and know you are not alone.
But if you don’t, because I also know there are stories missing from the pages of this issue, stories still to be told, I hope you know there is still space for you here, just as you are. I like to think that’s why we do this issue every year, so everyone has a chance to tell their story.
C/O Yoohyun Park
Technology is taking over creative fields and classic media is fading
Newspapers are known as digital subscriptions, books are known as Kindles and art is all about graphic design and digital forums now. Instead of flipping a page, we swipe a screen. Instead of a flick of a brush or the drag of a pen, we are tapping and swiping.
Everything is digital now and it does not sit well with me, especially as an english and communications major. I love the smell of a new book, the way your fingers slowly turn black due to the ink from flipping through the articles of the day and the excess paint left under your fingernails once finished painting.
I love the smell of a new book, the way your fingers slowly turn black due to the ink from flipping through the articles of the day and the excess paint left under your fingernails once finished painting.
Although the digital world makes it a little easier when compared to the preparation of physical crafts such as lugging around materials, I still love the process of it all.
And do not get me wrong, I am not undermining the energy and time it takes to write an article, book or create a drawing virtually. It just feels as though we have lost the true purpose of the craft.
Obviously, things are destined to evolve and change, but to have these artistic expressions shift completely to another realm tends make certain pieces lose their meaning.
Being a child of early generation Z, I still had the opportunity to live a childhood that wasn’t ruled by technology. I never have a phone and my only source of technology was my television.
All I knew was how to use my creativity to do something or make something. Despite the freedom from technology in my early years, I’m still annoyed at the fact that we as a society were introduced to iPhones and iPads when I was in middle school.
Despite that experience, I cannot even fathom being a young child with an iPhone or using Instagram so young. Even in my classes growing up, I had already started noticing the impact media had on our generation specifically.
Presentations started turning into slideshows, photography became incorporated in art class and even music class came with a focus on creating and editing music videos.
Don’t get me wrong, all of these new technologies have led to immense progress. Just look at the innovations in fields such as diagnostic radiology. But I still miss the craft.
I miss the rawness. I miss picking up the thick rolled-up newspaper on my driveway. I miss the excitement that came with writing. I miss looking at a painting and hearing the stories behind them and studying the brush strokes.
I say I miss it as if it is non-existent anymore and even though I know it isn’t, I feel it slowly fading. Who knows? Maybe physical books won’t be a thing soon, maybe paintings won’t either and Google and Photoshop will be the only avenues to follow. Perhaps it is only a matter of time before we live in an entirely digital world.
C/O Christine de Takacsy
The STORE on James specializes in handmade pieces by artists and makers in Ontario.
Amid the current supply chain shortages, many are opting to shop local for this holiday season. For shoppers who aren’t sure where to go or what to buy at local vendors and platforms such as Blkownedhamont, Wiiji’iwe Collective and On James North are great places to start. Through these platforms, buyers can find gift guides, discover Indigenous makers and handmade artisan shops like the STORE on James.
The STORE offers a wide selection of handmade items by over 25 artists and makers in Ontario, including ceramic houseware, glasswork, jewelry, fibre art, woodwork, cards, prints and posters. The books sold in the STORE are the only products that are not handmade.
“We really try to be almost like a mini market fair or one-of-a-kind establishment. Everything is done by local artists and we always have new things coming in. But we have a pretty steady roster of artists who have been here for many years,” said Christine de Takacsy, owner of the STORE.
The shop opened in 2014 on 129 James Street North and is operated by de Takacsy and her husband Bill Swallow who handles the section of used books.
Working in the art scene and being an artist herself is how de Takacsy found other creatives and makers to join her list of artists. Many of the artists on the list are people she met within the community at different shows and opening galas. There are also artists she has reached out to after seeing their work at various shows and artists who have contacted her first.
In general, she prioritizes full-time professional artists and curates a wide selection of different styles of works.
“There are so many good artists around, you could have way more artists than you have space, but I tried to have a good selection of different styles so when customers come in, they really have a nice variety,”
Christine de Takacsy
Although the COVID-19 pandemic brought on many challenges for small businesses, de Takacsy was floored by the support from the community. The continuous love from locals, combined with her enthusiasm for promoting fellow artists, sharing her own creations and seeing first-hand the reactions of customers to her artwork, has been her favourite aspects of running the business.
“Artists don’t always get to see how people are reacting to their work if they aren’t actually in the retail side of it. So that [part of running the STORE] really is good,” said de Takacsy.
During the holiday season, the STORE is offering special accessories such as glass, felted and ceramic ornaments, tea cozies, scarves and holiday themed tea towels as well as unique giftable goods. There are also handmade and locally designed holiday cards.
“We are excited for the holiday season. There are lots of little gifts and decorated things and James Street North is trying to open later than we normally are…We are really trying to get into the Christmas spirit to encourage people to come and help support locals,”
Christine de Takacsy
From Nov. 12 to Dec. 17, all stores on James Street North will operate on extended holiday night hours on Thursdays and Fridays. The STORE will now be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays.
For shoppers who can’t visit the store in person, the STORE has almost all their products available through their website as well.
The online shop opened in June of 2020. It was de Takacsy’s first time running an e-shop and although it has been challenging, she is committed to delivering a shopping experience similar to what customers would experience visiting in-person.
“[Opening the online store] was definitely forced by COVID. It made me get it up, do it and get it done. There are still learning burps and it is hard because they are all one-of-a-kind pieces and very time consuming [to create the online listings] but it’s definitely worth it,” said de Takacsy.
De Takacsy is looking forward to the festive months and giveaways the businesses on James North are organizing to share the love of gift giving.
With so many local businesses accessible both online and in-person this holiday season, instead of rushing to Amazon or other corporate businesses, shop local. There are many hidden talents and artists at vendors like the STORE and other shops in the community shoppers may be surprised to find. These one-of-a-kind items will surely capture and mark a memorable, one-of-a-kind holiday.
Yoohyun Park/Production Coordinator
From 19th century paintings to contemporary animations, Middle Easterners are over-sexualized
By: Kimia Tahaei, Staff Writer
Have you ever thought about the roots of stereotypes? Why are Middle Eastern women continuously depicted as sexual? Why is the culture of Easterners so heavily fetishized and exoticized?
Palestinian-American cultural critic Edward Saïd gives a thorough explanation of this phenomenon in his renowned book, Orientalism.
Saïd argues that European colonizers provided distorted information regarding the Middle East, which led to a false production of "knowledge" — "knowledge" that instilled the erroneous belief that the West (also known as the Occident) was superior to the East (also known as the Orient).
To spread their fictitious "knowledge" far and wide, the West decided to use art as a means of propaganda. At this point in history, European artists created numerous artworks with the primary purpose of advancing their political ideologies — European superiority.
At this point in history, European artists created numerous artworks with the primary purpose of advancing their political ideologies — European superiority.
KIMIA TAHAEI, STAFF WRITER
Due to the West's misrepresentation of the Orient, Middle Easterners are paying a steep price, even today.
As Saïd repeatedly states throughout his book, Orientalism and whoever followed its principles did so with intentions of falsely exhibiting the East. To better understand how Middle Easterners are suffering the consequences of these former European paintings, we first have to understand the depths of this flawed misrepresentation.
To begin, Middle Eastern women were persistently sexualized. Gérôme, a French pioneer of the Orientalism movement, fetishized Middle Eastern women and portrayed them as exotic in his paintings. He did so by frequently illustrating them as nude or semi-nude and often participating in provocative acts.
Not only did he fetishize women, but he also managed to hypersexualize integral elements of Middle Eastern culture, like belly dancing. I find it particularly frustrating how Middle Eastern women have to suffer stigmatization daily because of a French painter's Occidental fantasies of the East.
Due to his lack of knowledge on Middle Eastern culture, he fabricated a mass amount of false "knowledge" that led to fundamental components of the culture getting fetishized — this "knowledge" portrayed Middle Eastern women as exotic commodities and intrinsically sexual beings.
This stereotyping has led to the hyper-sexualization of Middle Eastern women in books, films and even Disney movies.
Beyond Hollywood’s exotic depictions of “sexy belly dancers,” such stereotyping can even be seen in innocent children's movies.
For instance, Princess Jasmine, a 16-year-old, was represented as erotic and was overly sexualized in the Disney movie Aladdin. In the movie, Jasmine and other young Arab women are shown in tops showing cleavage and midriff. Astonishingly, in one specific scene, Jasmine even overtly takes advantage of her sexuality to seduce an older male character — Jafar.
This portrayal is particularly problematic for me because Jasmine is one of the only princesses who is so harshly sexualized. Almost every other princess wears modest dresses that cover their head to toe.
Not only is this problematic because cartoons intended for a young audience are including sexually suggestive imagery and themes, but it is also just blatantly disappointing to witness such poor cultural representation. It is incredibly disheartening that Orientalism has ruined one of the few occurrences in media where a young Middle Eastern girl can see herself represented in some way.
It is incredibly disheartening that Orientalism has ruined one of the few occurrences in media where a young Middle Eastern girl can see herself represented in some way.
KIMIA TAHAEI, STAFF WRITER
I often imagine the lasting and destructive impacts that this misrepresentation leaves on a young Middle Eastern child. I wonder if they question whether they have to be sexual in order to receive a speck of representation in the media.
Overall, it is interesting to think about the evolution of propaganda that served colonialism in the promotion of Western domination. What was started by 19th-century European painters is still alive thanks to 21st-century directors. Although the form of propaganda has changed, the message of Eastern inferiority remains the same.
