Ghiora Aharoni
- b. 1969 in Rehovot, Israel
- Working in New York, NY, United States of America
- Showing at Asia Society Museum
- On view October 27, 2020, through February 7, 2021
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Ghiora Aharoni, Thank God for Making Me a Woman, I, 2017. Antique angarkha with hand-embroidered phrase, "Thank God For Making Me a Woman," in Hindru© (the artist's combination of Hindi and Urdu). Frame: H. 48 x W. 68 x D. 3 in. (121.9 x 172.7 x 7.6 cm). Courtesy of the artist. Photograph: Ghiora Aharoni ©2017
- Location: Asia Society Museum
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Ghiora Aharoni, Thank God for Making Me a Woman, II, 2017. Antique angarkha with hand-embroidered phrase, "Thank God For Making Me a Woman," in Hindru© (the artist's combination of Hindi and Urdu). Frame: H. 48 x W. 68 x D. 3 in. (121.9 x 172.7 x 7.6 cm). Courtesy of the artist. Photograph: Ghiora Aharoni ©2017
- Location: Asia Society Museum
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Ghiora Aharoni, Thank God for Making Me a Woman, III, 2019. Antique angarkha with hand-embroidered phrase, “Thank God For Making Me a Woman,” in Hindru© (the artist’s combination of Hindi and Urdu) on the exterior and in Hebrabic© (the artist’s combination of Hebrew and Arabic) on the interior; antique silver cuffs; antique silver brooch assemblage. H. 67 x W. 48 x D. 20 in. (170.2 x 121.9 x 50.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist. Photograph: Ghiora Aharoni ©2019
- Location: Asia Society Museum
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Ghiora Aharoni, Thank God for Making Me a Woman, III (detail), 2019. Antique angarkha with hand-embroidered phrase, “Thank God For Making Me a Woman,” in Hindru© (the artist’s combination of Hindi and Urdu) on the exterior and in Hebrabic© (the artist’s combination of Hebrew and Arabic) on the interior; antique silver cuffs; antique silver brooch assemblage. H. 67 x W. 48 x D. 20 in. (170.2 x 121.9 x 50.8 cm). Courtesy of the artist. Photograph: Ghiora Aharoni ©2019
- Location: Asia Society Museum
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Installation view of Asia Society Triennial: We Do Not Dream Alone at Asia Society Museum, New York, October 27, 2020–June 27, 2021. Ghiora Aharoni, Thank God for Making Me a Woman, III, 2019, Courtesy of the artist. Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2020
- Location: Asia Society Museum
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Installation view of Asia Society Triennial: We Do Not Dream Alone at Asia Society Museum, New York, October 27, 2020–June 27, 2021. From left to right: Ghiora Aharoni, Thank God for Making Me a Woman, I, 2017, Courtesy of the artist; Ghiora Aharoni, Thank God for Making Me a Woman, III, 2019, Courtesy of the artist; Ghiora Aharoni, Thank God for Making Me a Woman, II, 2017, Courtesy of the artist; Jordan Nassar, I Am Waiting For You, 2018, Collection of Giora Kaplan. Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2020
- Location: Asia Society Museum
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Installation view of Asia Society Triennial: We Do Not Dream Alone at Asia Society Museum, New York, October 27, 2020–June 27, 2021. Ghiora Aharoni, Thank God for Making Me a Woman, II, 2017, Courtesy of the artist. Photograph © Bruce M. White, 2020
- Location: Asia Society Museum
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Ghiora Aharoni, For You, I Declare, 2013. Antique phulkari hand embroidered with the artist’s drawings of India and excerpts from his mother’s letters from the 1950s. H. 59 x W. 98 in. (149.9 x 248.9 cm). Courtesy of the artist. Photograph: Anil Rane ©2013
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Ghiora Aharoni, With You I Make My Home, 2013. Antique phulkari, hand embroidered with the artist’s drawings of India and excerpts from his mother’s letters from the 1950s. H. 51 x W. 100 in. (129.5 x 254 cm). Courtesy of the artist. Photograph: Anil Rane ©2013
Ghiora Aharoni’s multifaceted practice contextualizes sociopolitical histories through an investigation of how found and often culturally specific artifacts, sacred texts, and languages can reveal and challenge patriarchal notions of gender and religion. His work often juxtaposes objects from seemingly disparate cultures as a means to provoke dialogue. This is exemplified by the artist’s exploration of intercultural connectivity through his creation of Hindru©, a hybridization of Hindi and Urdu, and Hebrabic©, which similarly merges Hebrew and Arabic into functioning texts. The artist received a BA in architecture from the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at City College, New York, in 1998, and an MA in architecture from Yale University, New Haven, in 2001.
Thank God for Making Me a Woman is a series of three antique angarkhas—muslin robes traditionally worn by men in the ancient principalities of India—with the hand-embroidered phrase “Thank God for Making Me a Woman” written in Hindru© and Hebrabic©. According to the artist, this expression is a subversion of “Thank God for Not Making Me a Woman,” a traditional daily prayer recited by Orthodox Jewish men, which the artist was taught early in his life. The sewing of this altered text by male artisans of Muslim faith in India onto a garment traditionally worn by Indian men highlights the ways in which cultural attitudes toward gender are not only historically and geographically specific but also shared among patriarchal societies across space and time.
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