Source work:
1276/89
Ndebele (Unknown Artist)
Marriage Apron (Ijogolo)
Hide, beads, string
All Secrets Hid - Jutta Faulds
Jutta Faulds (b.1933)
All Secrets Hid
Fibre art: paper, fabric, found objects
R6 000
I have been pondering burkhas for some time: the protective barrier they offer, the exclusivity they imply. They were intended as a symbol of ownership, by the husband. But what if the women turned this around and used them instead as a shield, which would give them the freedom they wanted, and which the burkha was designed to deny them?
"Marriage" was the theme that ran through several of the pieces we were given to choose from, to respond to. So what better piece to choose to lead me to my burkha, than the Ndebele wedding apron.
My personal history is somewhat convoluted: a loosely Lutheran upbringing, high school at a convent, growing up in "Catholic" Germany, marrying a Methodist South African, and recently after several visits to India, picking up some of the beliefs of Muslims and Hindus, which helped to enrich my outlook on life. The Hindu deities, after all, have much in common with the Catholic veneration of their saints, with which I was quite familiar (as I was with all the Nordic gods, about whom we learned in History).
All of this has given me a fairly broadminded attitude. At least, I hope it has. The symbols I used are mostly personal, though some of them I regard as universal: the circles as the symbol of infinity and divine perfection is widely understood. It is a piece that represents the Earth, wounded and ravaged by the human race (the piece of silk I used to make this circle is a hand dyed silk sarie I bought on my first trip to India, in Bhuj, Gujarat. A week before I was due for a second visit to this small and beautiful town it was destroyed by an earthquake which killed many thousands of people). Hindus believe that destruction has to come before creation and regeneration and they have several gods confirming this.
"Feathers" represent birds. The birds give us hints about the health and well being of our environment, so they have to be included here. The symbol of "the hand of Fatima" is a protective Muslim sign which wards off evil (as do the mirrors at the top), and is the only visual part of the original piece that I am using in mine.
Plastic is perhaps as ambivalent as the burkha itself: it protects, it hides, but it can poison if not checked. It should be used creatively and responsibly. I have included (you may have to search for them) other things that have religious (mostly Christian) meaning: shells, albeit broken, represent the Virgin Mary in medieval times and also the resurrection (recreation, regeneration?). A few other things for me represent the fragility of our lives: plant fragments and insect wings.
Finally, a quote from the Anglican Book of Common Prayers:
"...unto whom all hearts be open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid..."
In light of this I am calling my burkha piece All Secrets Hid.