Skip to main content

The Umbrella


The word umbrella derives from the Latin where “umbra” means shadow.  Similarly, “para” defines shelter or shield, and “sol” means sun and they construct the word “parasol” which is used with the term umbrella interchangeably, yet parasols have a straight shaft different than the curved handle of the umbrella. As their etymological roots suggest, the primal intention of creating this object was the protection from exposure to the sun around four millennia before today. The early materials used in the construction were the tree leaves and branches until the invention of paper in China. The paper predecessors of this object later oiled since then the function of them have expanded from sunshade to protection from the rain even though they were not totally waterproof. These oil-paper parasols as well as dry, silk parasols made their way to Europe around Renaissance and became a fashionable trend amongst women. In 1708 The Kersey’s Dictionary defined the umbrella as “a screen commonly used by women to keep off rain” by proving its relation with femininity in this era. The so-called stubborn traveler and philanthropist Jonas Hanway changed this perspective by insisting on carrying his umbrella every day in London for thirty years against societal norms. The association of umbrella within sociological concepts is not limited to femininity, it also has been representing prosperity, royalty, and power throughout history starting from Ancient Egypt.

 “Who doubts that you are a respectable character provided you have an umbrella? you go into a public house and call for a pot of beer, and the publican puts it down before you with one hand without holding out the other for the money, for he sees that you have an umbrella and consequently property.  And what respectable man, when you overtake him on the way and speak to him, will refuse to hold a conversation with you, provided you have an umbrella? No one.  The respectable man sees you have an umbrella and concludes that you do not intend to rob him, and with justice, for robbers never carry umbrellas.  O, a tent, a shield, a lance, and a voucher for the character is an umbrella.  Amongst the very best friends of man must be reckoned an umbrella."


Wild Wales (1906), George Borrow

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Umbrella | Political References

The umbrella can protect people from various factors as well as the rain and sun. In 2014, umbrellas gained the mission of protecting the crowd from pepper spray and rubber bullets during the protests in Hong Kong regarding more transparent elections, which were later named “The Umbrella Movement”. The object, particularly the yellow ones, became a symbol for protests and in general used as a tool for passive resistance. In 2019, during the time of the Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement again in Hong Kong, the object carried the importance of collective expression, privacy, and self-defense for protesters in the same manner yet umbrellas have been labeled as weapons by police forces so that the ordering of the object from e-commerce platforms like AliExpress was banned. Beyond being a symbol of resistance, umbrellas were used as camouflage to provide privacy for protesters, as a shield and defense mechanism for protection against police forces as the people from protests clai
Post a Comment
Read more

What do I do?

I interpret art as a way to escape the physical world we are into, meanwhile, it leads into another more comprehensive reality. In this reality, we don’t need words that limit the concept, in contrast, an unrestricted way of communication is possible through art. Beyond thinking through language, the experience of feelings develops the process of creating. The sensory system we build our perception upon makes it feasible for us to interact with the surrounding stimulants, and these stimulants are a method of manipulation within the space to create an experience as my art practice. Within meditative states of the body or psychotherapeutic processes, we can determine specific complications and traumas which are lying in our subconsciousness through physical scanning. Thus, it becomes possible to realize the relation between body and mind. The body as an expressive tool reacts to what we experience, my muscles, gesture, and posture is my instrument, that’s why I put performance or “act” i
Post a Comment
Read more