H x W x D: 182.9 × 157.5 × 137.2 cm (72 × 62 × 54 in.)
Type:
Sculpture
Geography:
Egypt
Date:
2012
Series:
3/6
Label Text:
Blue Bra Girls takes its name from the 2011 Reuters photograph of a veiled young woman whose blue bra was exposed as she was dragged and beaten during protests in Tahrir Square. The image went viral and quickly became a rallying cry for thousands of Egyptian women. For Ghada Amer, The Blue Bra Girls is a tribute to all the women who have risked standing up for what they believe in. As she has said, “I had an idea for a sculpture in which women would look defiantly at the public. I thought it was important that they should all have their eyes open and be looking at the viewer. I also wanted the women standing, instead of lying down. Then the ‘blue bra girl’ incident took place and so I called the piece after that, as an homage to all those women who stand up for themselves and fight.”
Description:
Highly polished stainless steel egg-shaped openwork sculpture composed of the outlines of five nude female figures and their intertwined hair.
Exhibition History:
Heroes: Principles of African Greatness, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., November 16, 2019–October 3, 2021
I Am: Contemporary African Women Artists, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 20, 2019 - April 3, 2022
Ghada Amer, Kewenig, Berlin, Germany. April 29-July 30, 2016.
The Divine Comedy: Heaven, Purgatory and Hell Revisited by Contemporary African Artists. MMK, Frankfurt; SCAD; NMAfA, 2014-2015.
Songs of Loss and Songs of Love. Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, South Korea. May 16-July 13, 2014.
Rainbow Girls. Chaim & Read, New York. April 3-May 10, 2014.
Reference a Elle. Kukje Gallery. Seoul, Korea. May 17-June 30, 2013.
Content Statement:
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