The dowry.

  • Georgiou, Alexandra
Date:
2011
  • Books

Online resources

  • Related materials: See a video of the artwork on youtube.: View resource

About this work

Description

The Dowry is made from pillowcases that formed part of the artist's dowry. In Greek Cypriot culture it was custom for girls to have a dowry in preparation for marriage. The front cover was embroidered by her grandmother and was part of her own dowry. At the end of the volume is the hair that the artist lost during chemotherapy treatment. In her words, 'the loss of my hair from the time of chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer left me feeling stripped bare and for me signalled the end of my feminity, no longer would I have value as a woman, as a person.'

Publication/Creation

2011.

Physical description

1 volume : linen pillowcases stitched in book form, human hair ; 35 x 24.6 x 9 cm

Biographical note

Alexandra Georgiou was a Greek-Cypriot, a practising artist and teacher, who trained as an artist at Chelsea College of Art. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011 and died on 24th April 2016.

Notes

Georgiou said of her work, 'Very often my work has been about my body as the terrain of difficulty, the site of ill health, and 'dis-ease.' Cancer is a dis-ease of memory, which cannot be seen but eats away at the body. Finally cancer gives you permission to do what you want to do.'

Terms of use

Restricted: currently undergoing conservation. Please contact collections@wellcomecollection.org for further information.
This item is to be handled with gloves which are contained within the box. The book contains some of Georgiou's hair which is not adhered to the pages.

Type/Technique

Languages

Where to find it

  • 22503172759

    LocationStatusAccess
    Closed stores
    3043980i
    By appointmentManual request

    Note

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