Elina Gertsman calls the exhibit “small, but mighty.” Some items are so intricate and ornate they require viewing through a magnifying glass to capture detail. But make no mistake, the impact of 'Creation, Birth, and Rebirth' is big. It remains on view into July.
A 14th-century French statue of the Virgin Mary nursing the infant Jesus may have offered solace to those suffering during the Black Plague that swept across Europe. It is on view in the "Creation, Birth, and Rebirth" exhibition, co-curated by Case Western University and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
It also inspires a whole host of intriguing existentialist questions: How did different cultures imagine the origins of the universe? Or the emergence of gods and mortals? How did they view the cycles of life, death and renewal? On view through July 27 in Gallery 115, the exhibit features works spanning medieval Europe, South and Southeast Asia, China and the Indigenous Americas from the 9th to the 16th century.30 incredible things to do in and around The Land this weekendNew ‘Superman’ film trailer soars and Cleveland is all over it Graduate students contributed to research, helped write wall texts and labels, including an introduction that feels as dramatic as the works within: “Across cultures, creation stories have been used to try to define humanity’s relationships with their god, nature, and each other. Each story attempts to address the enormity of the cosmos by likening creation to common human experiences.” “I think the students were surprised at how didactic writing museum text is,” Gertsman told Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer in an interview last month. “But with a global medieval art show on creation, birth and rebirth, it draws on one of the best collections in the world – the Cleveland Museum of Art – and covers a lot of territory. It was also an incredible experience for these 12 seminar students to have.” Gertsman calls the exhibit “small, but mighty.” She’s right, of course: some items are so intricate and ornate they require viewing through a magnifying glass to capture detail. Rich in myth and symbolism, “Creation, Birth, and Rebirth” isn’t just a scholarly dive into sacred storytelling – it’s a reminder of how art has always helped us wrestle with existential angst and those big questions about where we come from and why we’re here. “I think the students loved it because they got to help with curatorial choices,” Gertsman said. “Even with selection of objects. They still give tours of that show, because there’s a sense of ownership and pride in it. That doesn’t always happen; they feel like it’s theirs.” Students were tapped for every single component of the exhibition, Gertsman said. It’s the kind of opportunity that doesn’t come along very often for a student.“It’s just the confluence of faculty who teach here that we have curators who we have a lot of medievalists in our on staff. It’s a luxury – almost every student in that class is interested in the Middle Ages, which means I don’t have to teach them the basics.” The black chlorite statue "Birth of the Buddha," part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection, is a keystone in "Creation, Birth, and Rebirth."“Birth of the Buddha,” a black chlorate Other objects in the exhibition are drawn from CMA’s collections of medieval art, Chinese art, Indian and Southeast Asian art, art of the Americas and prints and drawings. It provides a compelling thread – exhibitional DNA, if you will – across time, cultures and geographies. Mother-and-Child Figurine, 1325-1521. Mexico, Aztec. Ceramic, pigment; overall: 12.2 cm . The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Edward B. Greene 1921.1711Gertsman thrills at this, given wide variety of subjects she writes about – from image theory to polyfunctionality of objects. She has tackled many subjects – from macabre murals and devotional sculpture, to materiality, semiotics of medium and even animality. Her work has been supported by the Guggenheim, Kress, Mellon and Franco-American Cultural Exchange Foundations, as well as by the American Council of Learned Societies. She has won both of her university’s highest awards for graduate teaching and mentoring and received a teaching award from the Medieval Academy of America – who later elected her as a fellow 2022. It’s clear Gertsman impacts students on many levels, including her own deep intellectual curiosities. “I’m super proud of this – not only for the statement it makes, but for what it has meant to the students who were involved,” Gertsman said. “It’s exciting because we got to handle actual objects and engaged them in a way that a medieval viewer would engage them.”“There’s a lot of labor and it’s a painful process but once it’s out, you do marvel a bit because to you it’s the most beautiful baby in the world.” Medieval art is “difficult” she said, work you often need framework around to fully enjoy. But with “Creation, Birth, and Rebirth,” Gertsman said that she and her students delighted in seeing people “just walk in cold and enjoy everything, which is fantastic.” She said it makes everyone involved “feel like we did something very, very right.” And while Gertsman is not quite ready to say goodbye to the exhibit, she’s hoping that a lot of museum guests take the opportunity to ruminate in the diminutive gallery where it lives. “I’m a consummate academic. I research, write, publish books and teach students – that is my bread and butter,” Gertsman said. “But at the same time, curating shows is something very different altogether. This has been the ultimate learning experience for all involved.” If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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