C.E. Smith Museum hosts 'The Woman with 1,000 Faces' exhibit through June 13

m-AnthropWeb-pic-030414.gif

  • April 21, 2014
  • By Barry Zepel

The "shifting roles of women throughout the ages" is the focus of the current exhibit of Cal State East Bay's C.E. Smith Museum of Anthropology on the university's Hayward Campus, 25800 Carlos Bee Blvd.

"The Woman with 1,000 Faces: From Mythic Matriarch to Modern Mystique" has opened to the public at the museum, located in Room 4047 of Meiklejohn Hall. The exhibition officially begins March 10 and will be open Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., through Friday, June 13. The museum will be closed during Spring Break March 24-28, Cesar Chavez Day March 31, and Memorial Day May 26.

Admission to the museum is free.

"In ancient times, women were both feared and revered for their mysterious life-bearing powers," said Marjorie Rhodes-Ousley, associate director of the C.E. Smith Museum of Anthropology. "From tales of Amazons to the fairy tales of the 1800s, images of women have been woven into our consciousness."

The exhibition features displays on various roles women have held in society, in addition to presentations on gender, feminism and beauty. Diverse interactive exhibits cover everything from women in the media to Celtic goddesses.

"Genetically it comes down to just one different chromosome, but being a woman is so much more than just biological determination," Rhodes Ousley said. "As Simone de Beauvoir said, 'One is not born a woman, one becomes one.'"

The C.E. Smith Museum of Anthropology was founded in 1975 in honor of Clarence E. Smith, an original faculty member of the Cal State East Bay Department of Anthropology. The museum houses significant collections of archaeological and ethnographic specimens from Africa, Asia and North America, with small collections from Central and South America. It offers  opportunities and materials for student research and internships in archaeology and ethnology.

Additional information is available by calling the museum office at (510) 885-3104 or the exhibit hall at (510) 885-7414.