The Dinner Party is an installation piece of art which included 39 place settings for historical or mythological women. Even though it has toured continents, it is now permanently based in the Brooklyn Museum, New York.
One of the most amazing things about this piece is that the floor is made of white triangular tiles with 999 notable women inscribed, this is called the Heritage Floor. "Chicago states that the criteria for a woman's name being included in the floor were one or more of the following:
- She had made a worthwhile contribution to society
- She had tried to improve the lot of other women
- Her life and work had illuminated significant aspects of women's history
- She had provided a role model for a more egalitarian future."
Each of the separate table settings have a "vagina butterfly" theme to them. This alone has created both criticism and praise. People still feel uncomfortable about this and they vocalize their thoughts. While others find it very empowering and amazing and fully support the forward thinking. It's amazing to think that this piece can still cause great controversy even though it came out 35 years ago.
What's your opinion?
Citations:
Image: http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party/
Quotes: Chicago, Judy. The Dinner Party: From Creation to Preservation. London: Merrell (2007) , Heritage panels , page 289.
Information: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dinner_Party#cite_note-Chicago_2007-5
I love the Dinner Party! I never knew about the vagina butterfly theme, but it makes sense now after looking at it! Who would you have if you created a Dinner Party?
ReplyDeleteI love the Dinner Party too! I'm surprised that many people are so unaware of it.
DeleteI think I would incorporate a lot of women that were apart of moving our women's (and civil) rights forward as well as women who are very important in history instead of some of the more mythological women that Judy Chicago used. For instance, I'd need to include Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Joan of Arc, and Eleanor Roosevelt. But I'd definitely keep some that she had like Sappho, Hatshepsut, Hildegarde of Bingen, Sacajawea, Sojourner Truth, Emily Dickenson, Virginia Woolf, and Georgia O'Keeffe.