Mother of Whores (2024)
3-Channel Video Installation
STRIKE GERMANY STATEMENT
Mother of Whores was originally commissioned for With Legs Wide Open – A Whore’s Ride Through History at the Schwules Museum in Berlin. We have pulled it from the show in support of Strike Germany, which calls for international artists to boycott German cultural institutions to protest anti-Palestinian censorship. Instead of the video installation, the following statement has been posted on our behalf by the curators:
Originally, two video installations by the artists Juliana Fadil-Luchkiw and Lena Chen were planned in this exhibition: “The Whore of Babylon” and “The Mother of Whores.” Both performance works are artistic comments on whore history, relating to sex work and the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar. The second video work was filmed by the Ishtar gate, today in Berlin’s Pergamon museum, as a commentary on Germany’s colonial past, presence and ongoing responsibility.
The works have been removed from the exhibition because the artists are participating in STRIKE GERMANY, which calls for international cultural workers to strike from German cultural institutions because of the current situation in Gaza.
It is important to us to highlight this decision. Whore history is intrinsically intersectional, and the liberation of sex workers and queer people is inextricably tied to liberation from racial and colonial violence. Within the Schwules Museum and the diverse communities connected to it, we believe it is crucial to make space for these discussions.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Inspired by harvest festivals held during the equinox in ancient Babylon, this performance at the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum engages with the ongoing movement to rematriate stolen cultural objects held in Western museums. Despite the gate itself not being physically returned to its home in Iraq, our intention was to return Ishtar to the gate symbolically. Our performance delves into the historical repression of Ishtar as a powerful feminine figure and the marginalization of her queer and sex worker consorts. We posit that the invocation of Ishtar’s power as a symbol of sexuality has the potential to confront and dismantle white supremacist patriarchy, colonialism, and racial capitalism. The ritual features a procession through the museum halls, offerings of music and dance to the goddess, and the planting of a succulent known as the “Mother of Thousands.”
One of the most famous stolen artifacts residing in a European institution, the Ishtar Gate was a gate to the inner city of ancient Babylon, in current day Iraq. The gate was used as a processional way for the rites and rituals concerning Ishtar, a main goddess worshiped for her association with fertility, sexuality, love, and war. The “Mother of Whores” video installation specifically addresses Ishtar’s role as a tutelary deity to sex workers and the cult of sacred prostitutes who made up her devotees. By reanimating the gate, we reject Western civilization’s claim over ancient Mesopotamia for its own history. Calling in Ishtar’s power to return her to a place of leadership, even if only for a shimmer in time, we make visible the sexual energy that has been marginalized and repressed by Western society, its colonial impositions, and imperialist extractivism.
CREDITS
Producers: Lena Chen and Juliana Fadil-Luchkiw
Video Editing: Molly Caitlin Baber
Sound Design: Alex Weber
Production Management: Zarahlena
Performers: Lena Chen, Kelly Dochy, Juliana Fadil-Luchkiw, Rachel Harris, Reham Maslmani, Isadora Söderström, Zarahlena
Production Assistant: Tim Gerdes
Makeup Artist: Julia Hahn
Makeup Assistant: Elayne Rieck
Videography: Danny Kötter
Still Photography: Molly Caitlin Baber
Social Media Documentation: Markus Hoffmann
