An international exhibition highlighting feminine power and identity through the ages has been given its own Australian flair, including one of Kylie Minogue's most iconic costumes and a depiction of Aboriginal female water spirits.
Feared and Revered: Feminine Power through the Ages, part of the British Museum's collection, is the latest exhibition to go on show at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra — the only Australian venue of the exhibition's international tour.
But two uniquely Australian pieces of feminine history have now been added to the exhibition for its Australian leg.
One of them is an Indigenous installation, depicting Yawkyawk – young female water ancestor spirits, originating from the Kuninjku people in Western Arnhem Land.
Often compared to mermaids, Yawkyawk has the head and torso of a woman and the scaly body and tail of a fish. They inhabit freshwater pools and streams and are strongly associated with fertility.
Various representations of the Yawkyawk have been put on display at the exhibition, including a work by artist Janet Marawarr.
"I'm so excited to see my exhibition because I'm so happy to see my design," she said.
Ms Marawarr explained that when it rained, the Yawkyawk stayed underneath the water and sang, but when the rain stopped, "they come out from the water and sit on rocks".
A costume worn by Australian pop legend Kylie Minogue is the second piece of Australian feminine power and history on display.
The costume was worn during her 2011 Aphrodite: Les Folies world tour, and is a representation of the Greek goddess of love, life, sex and war, Aphrodite – or Venus, as she was known in Roman mythology.
Exhibition curator Caroline Edwards said she was thrilled to be including the costume, which is currently on loan from Arts Centre Melbourne.
"Kylie Minogue is revered by millions of people from around the world," Ms Edwards said.
"She's a secular goddess - we consider her Australia's own goddess."
'She's a liberating power'
The two pieces are among the over 160 objects as part of the Feared and Revered collection which come from six continents and span 5,000 years of history.
The collection reflects the many faces of feminine power and examines how goddesses, demons, witches and spirits have shaped and continue to shape our understanding of the world.
Curator Belinda Crerar said the exhibition explored how female authority and female power have been revered in different spiritual traditions around the world.
"They all say something about how female identity has been viewed at some point in history, and the emphasis is really on the variety of that," she said.
Ms Crerar said her favourite item in the collection was a statue of the Hindu goddess Kali, an important goddess in contemporary Hinduism, often misunderstood in the west and badly represented in western popular culture.
"Kali was also often a representation of death, as she is depicted with a garland of severed heads around her neck.
However, the heads were designed to represent "our ego and our sense of self that she has severed, and therefore she's a liberating power".
"It's these kinds of stories that we're bringing out and asking visitors to engage with, to make us assess our preconceptions," she said.
Former Governor-General of Australia Quentin Bryce also features in the exhibition, reflecting on the importance of feminine power as part of a video display.
Ms Bryce dubbed the exhibition as one of the most timely and enriching learning experiences she'd had in her life.
"We are looking at the status of women, the position of women in our own nation and around the world," Ms Bryce said.
She said a particular piece that drew her eye was a depiction of Hindu goddess, Lakshmi, because of how beautiful and elegant she was.
"She's a very contemporary goddess, she's moved with the time, [and] she's portrayed in many, many homes around the world."
The exhibition opens today and will run until August next year.
