Altadena Library is hosting a special reading and performance on Saturday, Dec. 17, in conjunction with its current exhibition, “What if the Matriarchy Was Here All Along?”, curated by Jacqueline Falcone of Bed and Breakfast.
“What if the Matriarchy Was Here All Along?” is on display in the Main Library Reading Court, Display Case, and outdoor installation through the end of December. The exhibition takes the works of three contemporary artists – Akina Cox, Najja Moon and Ali Prosch – and examines a reality which the Amazons did not actually vanish.
In several of Akina Cox’s featured horse drawings, viewers see a daisy-like flower, a reference pulled from the Gate of Ishtar. Many religions refer to Ishtar – also called The Goddess of Bodily Love or The Goddess of Love and War – as a demon or a sort-of avatar for one.
Growing up in the Unification Church, everything Cox was taught to be afraid of were actually things and people who were good for her, and much of her work is about the journey of learning to identify with these “enemies.” For her, life as an ex-cult member is like being in a funhouse mirror: everything that’s up is down.
Najja Moon was invited to be the inaugural artist for the New Monuments program in March 2021 at the Bass Museum of Art in Miami, Florida, where she presented “Your Momma’s Voice in the Back of Your Head.” The monument was constructed using brightly colored, gradient dichroic plexiglass with speakers encased inside and echoed mantras, scolds and colloquialisms voiced by Moon’s own mother, as well as the mothers of friends and family.
The artist held an open call for community members to visit her studio where she interviewed them about their relationships with their mothers. She pulled phrases from these conversations for the sound portion of the work. The monument was meant to be up for a year, but was unfortunately vandalized, and ultimately destroyed.
For this exhibition, Moon has resurrected “Your Momma’s Voice in the Back of Your Head” using remnants of the piece to create a miniature version of the monument. The sculpture is presented with the original sound piece through headphones and the work is placed inside of a case atop a pedestal, alluding to a precious quality following the destruction of the first iteration.
Ali Prosch’s “Friendship Bracelets For Trees” addresses what happens when the bond between a mother and child morphs into companionship beyond blood, rooted in a genuine affinity and even camaraderie.
Prosch’s collaborator is her young daughter, Lucy, with whom she created large-scale bracelets that wrap around three branches of the library’s oldest tree. Making friendship bracelets is an ancient practice but was brought to the United States in the 1980s to be worn during political protests before becoming a common symbol for strong and everlasting friendship.
At the event on Saturday, Akina Cox will read her story of the same title, accompanied by acclaimed harpist Mary Lattimore on the piano. Limited copies of Cox’s story will be available for free.
While this program is open to all ages, take note that the story includes mention of war and violence.
The event is from 2 to 3 p.m.
For more information, call (626) 798-0833 or visit www.altadenalibrary.org/programs/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D163116309.
The Altadena Library is at 600 E. Mariposa Street in Altadena.
