Where Does the Venus Come From?
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The 2008 centennial of the finding of the Venus Von Willendorf made a busy year for expert and feminist Dr. Julia Savage. In February 2009, Kaucyila Brooke was able to schedule the infamous slide lecture “Where Does the Venus Come From?” for the program of Silberkuppe, Berlin. Dr. Savage’s skepticism about the less than factual interpretations of this pre-historical object d’art and her astute recognition of 19th century’s masculinist bias in such academic sciences as anthropology is traced over an exhaustive two hour lecture illustrated by 281 slides. The result of years of field research, led her to ask questions not only about the origins of the mythology of femininity that surround the so-called Venus, but to cast light on the actual mysteries surrounding the academic and institutional claims of discovery, dating and the material body of oolithic limestone not found in that region of Europe. Dr. Savage liberates the figurine and takes her on a roots voyage of self-discovery crisscrossing oceans of confusion to seek answers in museums, landscapes and finally the space beyond earth.