MAR: March Mermaid

Several years ago, I went to this touring exhibit, and was fascinated by the cross-cultural birth and transformation of a mermaid/ river spirit. The origin of Mami Wata in African mythology, influenced by the European concept of mermaids, and then translated across Africa and the Americas was just so ... cool. I took my young daughter and she was mesmerized by all the mirrors and blue sequins and headdresses and gold paint.

The idea that a mother or father mermaid brought African people safely through the horrendous Middle Passage ocean journey of slavery was particularly interesting to me, and so I was drawn to the Caribbean and Americas part of the exhibit. Often mermaids are portrayed as a bit callous or indifferent to human life, or in a romantic context rather than a nurturing parental spirit.

Years later, I picked up a fun fiction series by Ben Aaronovitch about a supernaturally sensitive detective, and I encountered the Mami Wata story translated into a personification of the Thames River and her tributaries (Rivers of London series). Suddenly, I remembered how fun it was to interact with the traveling sparkly mermaid art :)

I am picking up a distinct mermaid vibe in ZMACS, and I thought that we might have a Mermaid March and be inspired by the art created to honor mermaids and water spirits in Africa and the Caribbean/ Americas.

Great keywords to find images to be inspired by are: Lasiren, Mami Wata, Yemaya, Yemoja, Oxum (a fresh water spirit), Olokun (represents deep ocean waters and is often depicted as male, or intergender, as well as female) and Agwe (male).

In the swap, we will make one mail art item (paper doll, ATC, postcard, bookmark, mailable paper hat, set of inchies, pop-up card, collaged whatzit, minizine, tag, et cetera in the ZMACS spirit of mail art) for one partner in the theme of mermaids and water spirits of Africa and the Caribbean/ Americas.

Open to all ZMACS members in good standing. I will Mami Wata all unsent swaps. Please feel open to others' interpretations of what to some are religious spirits and to others are mythological creatures; I am sure that we will all respect the beliefs of our fellow swappers but they may not of course match our own :) Image is from an unidentified Haitian artist, via Smithsonian.