WARRIOR WOMEN OF HISTORY + LEGEND By Ashley Hinkle A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Corcoran College of Art + Design in Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts Exhibition Design Committee: ___________________________________________ Thesis Advisor ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________________________________________ Department Chairperson Date: _________________________May 2, 2014 ____________ May, 2014 Corcoran College of Art + Design Washington, D.C. WARRIOR WOMEN OF HISTORY AND LEGEND A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Corcoran College of Art and Design By Ashley Hinkle Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Art History Sweet Briar College, 2011 Advisors: Clare Brown, Cory Bernat, and Nigel Briggs Exhibition Design Spring Semester 2014 Corcoran College of Art + Design Washington, D.C. Copyright: 2013 Ashley Hinkle All Rights Reserved I dedicate this thesis to my parents, Marcus and Shirley, whose unconditional love and support has pushed me to be my best self and has pushed me to be the best artist and designer I could be. I also dedicate this thesis to the millions of women who fight or have fought for leadership, recognition, and freedom. Without your courage, this thesis would not be possible. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express the deepest appreciation for my thesis advisors, Clare Brown, Nigel Briggs, and Cory Bernat, who advised me against changing this topic when the professional feedback was poorly received at the time. Without their guidance and encouragement this thesis would not have been possible. Next, I would like to thank my content mentor, Christine Sylvester, whose insights into various revolutions occurring in Africa encouraged and inspired me to research beyond the Western vacuum of current events. Finally I would like to thank Barbara Charles for believing in this topic, pushing me outside of my comfort zone, and exercising her professional connections to propose this exhibition to the Frazier History Museum. ii INTRODUCTION Passion Statement This research expedition was spurred with the discovery of an anonymous late 19th century photograph of a young Japanese female (Fig. 1). She appears to be in her late-teens, early-twenties wearing her hair parted down the center, and pulled back at the nape of her neck. She wears a barrette of white flowers like a halo, while her eyes stare intensely at a point invisible to the viewer. Her lips are pursed, almost in frustration or anger, but she portrays a great sense of pride. What makes this photograph curious is that she is wearing samurai armor and is tightly gripping a saihai, a tasseled baton to denote a samurai warrior’s rank on the battlefield, while clutching a helmet topped with white flowers on her lap. Fig. 1: Anonymous, c. late 19th century, photograph, unknown size. When I asked the veterans of my extended family what they thought about the general concept of female warriors, most appreciated the idea while some had strong feelings against the notion. The antithetical beliefs had stemmed from the Pentagon’s recent lift on combat exclusion allowing women to participate in active combat and artillery units in January 2013. By lifting the ban on women in combat, women are now eligible for serving in more than 220,000 military positions.1 The beliefs that women should not participate in battle were poorly supported and reliant on questionable stereotypes. Statements including how women are the physically weaker sex and are too emotional to handle the realities of war were the most common viewpoints, even among women. The most questionable opinion included that women make better homemakers, caregivers, and mothers than fighters. 1 McSally, Martha E. "Defending America in Mixed Company: Gender in the U. S. Armed Forces." Daedalus 140, no. 3 (Summer 2011): 148-164. 1 After weeks of researching Japanese Meiji and Edo Period warrior women I eventually expanded the pool of heroines from the ancient Amazons to Post-9/11 Armed Forces soldiers. I took note of how difficult it was to find consistent and reliable historical information on all of my heroines; at which point I began to notice trends in prevalent attitudes of women during each era. This only fueled my efforts to ensure that these women’s remarkable stories would no longer remain unknown to history. I came to this topic with a background in art history with emphasis on feminist art as well as studio arts with concentrations in drawing, printmaking, and assemblage installation. My interests in liberal feminism and warrior culture, primarily stemming from my pastime in reading epic fantistorical and science fiction novels, provided an ideal framework for exploring historical and legendary accounts of women who fight and defy convention. My role as an exhibition designer extends further from designing a physical space and populating it with graphics and objects. I have adopted the epistemology that designers of all genres, whether industrial designers or typographers, are problem solvers through compelling information architecture. This exhibition is rooted in the belief that by confronting visitors with the realities of women in warfare, it is intended that visitors will acknowledge their beliefs and make better informed decisions with regards to their viewpoint of women, rather than relying on feeble stereotypes. Summary of topic Focusing primarily on historical military accounts, Warrior Women of History and Legend is an inquisitive and eye-opening experience that powerfully expresses the actions and philosophies of women in combat all over the world through visual culture and new media. Spanning nearly two thousand years, the exhibition contents are divided into seven interpretive precincts which include the following: Myth Inspired by Reality, Protecting Their People, Fighting for Spirituality, Putting Family First, America’s Story, Instruments of Fear, and The Story Continues. Exhibition Resources The exhibition resources are arranged in a loosely chronological order by theme which includes ancient marble sculpture and pottery, as well as arms, armor, biographical paintings, photography. Oral and video accounts from contemporary female combat soldiers give visitors personal insight into their perspectives as both warriors and women. Most of the exhibition resources consist of prominent works of art, some of which are painted by old masters. These works have been customarily displayed in the context of an artist’s life or its place within the history of art; however applying this approach to 2 displaying visual didactic information will benefit visitors and provide a more holistic experience of the content. This model is adapted from a similar format as the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery where historical accounts are told through the portraits of the individuals that shaped moments in our nation’s history. In contrast my approach will entail a multinational perspective using the same technique, but with the inclusion of representational objects such as weapons, armor, and evidentiary findings (See Appendix 2). Site The proposed location for this exhibition is within the temporary exhibition gallery at the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky. The Frazier is an ideal venue because of the Museum’s identity as a multinational and pan-historical museum. The Museum also serves as the American outpost for the Royal Armouries’ collection of arms and armor from Leeds, England. The Armouries gallery is adjacent to the temporary exhibition gallery which provides an exclusive spatial comparison between male and female combat, arms, and armor. Furthermore, by hosting this exhibition, the Frazier would provide a unique platform for local and traveling visitors who may not be accustomed to considering relationships between politics, art, and war. By simultaneously presenting historical female warriors and contemporary military soldiers in a unique way, this exhibition supports the Museum’s mission as an institution which “provides experiences that encourage inquiry as a catalyst for building individual respect and cooperation.”2 Challenges Orchestrating a comprehensive and controversial topic and shaping it to make a suitable and digestible experiential narrative for the public was by far my biggest challenge. What are the most important components of a story that spans two thousand years? Beginning with archetypal examples from antiquity such as warrior societies and the martyr surprisingly informed the content for later and contemporary accounts. Moreover, finding accurate and reliable information posed an immediate problem due to the lack of historical documentation of women’s lives and accomplishments during each era. Facts and visually compelling resources became valuable to the continuation of the project. This posed a challenge with regards to presenting the content and resources with a neutral yet engaging tone as opposed to glorifying or sentimentalizing the information. 2 “Museum Mission.” Accessed October 29, 2013. http://www.fraziermuseum.org/about/ 3 METHODS Approach to Content Research Research for this topic began by consulting digitized museum collections for any female warrior-related media and past exhibition information. Analyzing objects from traditional museum collections allowed me to gauge how to best approach other forms of media and storytelling. The majority of collections primarily