Wominyan Dinner Party Installation
In December 2018, 50 Wominyanistas gathered together to recreate our version of Judy Chicago’s renowned installation “The Dinner Party.” Each community member made a plate in honor of one of the Jewish-women who came before us, spanning from Biblical times to modern day, as we set the table for our hallowed guests.
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photos by rebecca bloomfield
An ode to the table sisters
There’s a table at the center.
It held the indents of passionate discussion.
It held heated words that singed ears.
It held the weight of history-laden books.
It held balance sheets and unopened letters.
It held wine-stained glasses and forgotten plates.
It held the whispered secrets that would be denied beyond those four legs and four walls.
It held negotiations about the people who stood outside, pressed up to the door or the glass or the keyhole or the wall.
It held power. It held purpose.
But it did not hold you.
There’s a table at the center.
And you make miracles at its periphery.
While they are busy taking their seat,
You are running, standing, dancing, balancing a million dreams on your hip.
While they languidly digest and debate,
You are outside making history
That they will be too heavy handed to record.
You cleared the thicket on the pathways we now walk.
You laid cobblestone after cobblestone on which we now stand.
You endured the naysaying of the table folk
And still you washed onto them like fearless waves
Eroding their walls so we can flow more freely.
There aren’t words to thank you,
So we built a table instead.
Sit down, sisters.
Put up your feet.
It’s been a long road
And you’ve had nothing to eat.
Sit down sisters,
It’s your turn to rest
You changed our history
At no one’s behest.
Sit down sisters,
Your our honored guests
And we’ll build more seats
For those who come next.