Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945): Brot! 1924, lithograph
Mothers’ lament
I
In the kitchen after dinner
I cut the watermelon
open. Placing
segments of sweet flesh
into young eager hands
I am looking at the juice-streaked smiles
of my children
who screech
and laugh
and leap with life
Thinking, as a mother, that to feed,
to clothe, to shelter; how
these simple acts
bring deep, fundamental joy
II
The watermelon’s skin is mottled
green, flesh
red, rind
bone-white, and seeds
bitter,
black.
I am thinking, as a mother, of hollow-eyed
children, grasping,
who shriek
with hunger
and worse,
of children, still.
who make no sound
Writing these words over the last two days in my kitchen, with Mother's Day approaching. Thinking of the plight of mothers where the suffering and loss of children is happening in plain sight; witnessed via smartphones held in our hands.
How is the fundamental right to feed, clothe and to keep ones children safe /alive denied?
How is it that this is known and witnessed globally, yet continues, unabated?
Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945): "Woman with a dead child", 1903, line etching, drypoint
The artwork above 'Woman with a dead child' is a print created in1903 by the much lauded artist Käthe Kollwitz. She herself lost a son to war, and throughout her lifetime witnessed many other children succumb to starvation and illness through famine, poverty, war and disease. Her oeuvre was dedicated to depicting the futility of conflict, the universality of loss, of grief, and in particular, the desperate plight of mothers striving to protect precious young lives.
Many years ago now I had the privilege of assisting in hanging an exhibition of Kollwitz's prints and drawings when working at the Bendigo Art Gallery. During the course of the exhibition I made countless visits to view the works in person and each time found myself deeply moved by the raw emotion they conveyed.
In graphically depicting human suffering Kollwitz is without peer.
In another harrowing work 'Brot!' (Bread), Kollwitz again depicts the tactic of withholding food from civilians with a mother caught between two children, who are each desperate with hunger.
The Käthe Kollwitz Museum Köln has curated collections of Kollwitz's works online. I highly encourage looking further into her art and her life.
We know so much, we bear witness daily, yet today I am reminded that Kollwitz's works over a century on, are as relevant now as ever.
#ceasefire
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