Melanie McDonagh Melanie McDonagh

A mess: British Museum’s Feminine Power – the Divine to the Demonic reviewed

Despite some fascinating artefacts, there's a curious lack of confidence in the works and very little of the Virgin Mary

Left, ‘Tiare Wahine’, a Hawaiian volcano goddess, by Tom Pico, 2001, and right, ‘Kali Murti’ by Kaushik Ghosh, 2022 [© The Trustees of the British Museum] 
issue 04 June 2022
  • Comments

  • Feminine Power: the Divine to the Demonic

    British Museum, until 25 September

The point at which the heart sinks in this exhibition is, unfortunately, right at the outset. That’s where we meet the five commentators that the British Museum has invited to respond to the objects and ideas in the exhibition. But only Mary Beard knows her subject. There’s Bonnie Greer, playwright and critic; Elizabeth Day, podcaster and novelist; Rabia Siddique, humanitarian (that’s a calling, it seems) and barrister; and Deborah Frances-White, podcaster and stand-up comedian.

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

TRY 3 MONTHS FOR $5
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Start your 3-month trial today for just $5 and subscribe to more than one view

Read next

Trending

Gareth Roberts

The National Theatre just gets worse and worse

The new artistic director of the National Theatre is Indhu Rubasingham, who this weekend told the Sunday Times what to expect from her tenure. Now hang on to your hats, because it’s bold, exciting and unexpected stuff. No, don’t be silly, of course it isn’t. It’s utterly ordinary, bog-standard, progressive-establishment rubbish. But you will, I’m afraid,

More on british museum

Also by Melanie McDonagh

Latest

Comments

Join the debate for just £1 a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in