Women’s art in Irland and Poland 1970-2010: Experiencing and Experimenting on the Female Body (original) (raw)

Though the Polish minority is the most numerous one in Ireland, and although the Ireland Poland Cultural Foundation has been in existence for five years, comparative studies centered on the two cultures remain sparse. However, confronting trends in Irish culture with evolutions in countries which offer similar characteristics may strengthen our understanding of the interactions between art and society. The gender-related works produced by Irish and Polish female artists between 1970 and 2010 reflect a growing tension between traditional values, secularisation and Europeanisation. They reverberate the heated debates over abortion, contraception and divorce which have put womanhood in the limelight in these two deeply Catholic nations. 2 These lens-based works derive from the tradition of self-portraiture and are related to body art. They starkly highlight the corporeality of the body, thus challenging the patriarchal social structures and discourses that, according to many radical feminists 1 , compound masculine power. Crucial to the understanding of these works is Foucault's argument that "there are no relations of power without resistances; the latter are all the more real and effective because they are formed right at the point where relations of power are exercised 2 ". Since the body is the main target of power, art works using the female body as their prime material are likely to shake the audience's perceptions of femininity, whether it is perceived as womanhood, femalehood, or motherhood. The performative body, serving a re-empowerment strategy, then becomes a locus of resistance. Irish artist Helena Walsh observes that the recent development of live art in Ireland has been "hugely significant to countering the negative impact of strict cultural mores and giving voice to those bodies silenced by the nation state 3 ". Live art is Women's art in Ireland and Poland 1970-2010: Experiencing and Experimenting o... Études irlandaises, 37-2 | 2012 10 In Poland and Ireland alike, the Catholic Church took part in the debates over abortion. In Ireland, where abortion has been a criminal offense since 1861, back-street abortions