Špela Drnovšek Zorko on Maja Zeco | Writing Highlight
Part of ONE WORK
This summer, revisit Špela Drnovšek Zorko’s response to Maja Zeco’s ‘In Search of the Sun’, a work that explores how, over time and geography, the meanings associated with the figure of Eastre have changed significantly. We presented ‘In Search of the Sun’ as part of our ONE WORK series in March 2021. We commissioned anthropologist and writer Špela Drnovšek Zorko to respond to the work.
Eastre, as you travel West to be reborn, not for the first time, I have a question: do you also sometimes forget which direction you’re coming from?
–Špela Drnovšek Zorko on ‘In Search of the Sun’
‘In Search of the Sun’ draws on the sculpture Eastre, (Hymn to the Sun) (1924) by JD Fergusson, a work from Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums’ collection.‘In Search of the Sun’ explores how, over time and geography, the meanings associated with the figure of Eastre have changed significantly and complicates JD Fergusson’s depiction of her as a Saxon goddess, drawing on multiple historical references from across Europe and the Middle East. The figure of Eastre began as Inanna in Mesopotamia, mutating into Ishtar in Assyria, Oshtara in Germany and then, via the English monk Bede the Venerable became known as Eostre in eighth century Christian Northumbria.
Eastre was originally understood as a‘promiscious figure of political power, martial prowess and sexual allure’ in her earliest incarnation and by the time her name was mentioned in England, she was being depicted as a goddess of fertility and spring.
Part of ONE WORK
ONE WORK is a series of online events that focus closely on a single work. These generous discussions provide an opportunity for an artist to present a recent work and talk through how the work came into being. Each work is available as a month-long online screening, a recorded conversation and a specially commissioned written response.