| Lancette Arts Journal Founded in 2000 |
DVD & Film Reviews From our Archives |
August 2006 |
In Search of Vashit can be found outside of the ROM until Mid-September 2006
By Alidė Kohlhaas
Vashti! Who was she? Why should she become the focus of an audio installation at Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) as part of its Institute for Contemporary Culture? As it stands, she is a rather complicated, yet seemingly insignificant, biblical figure, whose existence cannot be historically verified. She is, of course, not the only one, nor the only incident, deriving from the ancient Hebrew scriptures, who or which has no historical marker. In the Judeo-Christian canon such individuals or events are either accepted by faith or tradition, while others are set aside and questioned.
Vashti was, according to the Midrash (ancient interpretations of Hebrew scripture) the great-granddaughter of King Nebuchaddnezzar II of Babylon. She is also supposed to have been the strikingly beautiful wife of King Ahausuerus, whom some identify as King Xerxes of Persia. There is a problem here, however. Some claim that Xerxes' wife, Amestris can be identified as Vashti. This complicates the problem because there is evidence that Amestris lived well into the reign of her son, Artaxerxes I, while Vashti's story ends well before then. The name Vashti in Persian can be said to mean 'beautiful' or 'good'. So much for a partial background of this character.
Vashti has become a small heroic figure in the modern feminist movement although no one really knows anything about her other than that she refused to dance before her kingly husband and his companions and consequently became banished . . .
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