Cristina Biaggi, Ph.D., is a renowned Artist, Writer and Prehistorian. Her work has been widely exhibited in the U.S., Europe and Australia. She has published five books: Habitations of the Great Goddess, In the Footsteps of the Goddess, The Rule of Mars, Activism into Art into Activism into Art and Four Legs = Two, as well as a number of articles, which have appeared in various anthologies and other publications. The archaeologist and anthropologist Marija Gimbutas, who was her mentor and friend, wrote an introduction to her first book. Biaggi’s artistic practice consists of figurative sculptures, including a recent portrait of Jane Fonda, as well as political and abstract collages. She has also been commissioned to create numerous large outdoor sculptures. Her artwork is presently included in many collections including Jane Fonda’s in L.A. and Sean Scully’s in N.Y.
Mary: Welcome to People Who Make Books Happen, Cristina. How did you first become interested in the Great Goddess and Her habitations?
Cristina: My discovery of and interest in the Great Goddess first occurred when I was in my early twenties. I was raised Catholic, and I felt something was lacking in the traditional concept of divinity. I knew instinctively that there had to be something more than “God.” Even though as Catholics we had the Virgin Mary, she seemed too tied by the shackles of patriarchy to be a meaningful representative of female spirituality. When I read Joseph Campbell my interest in female divinity moved to a new level. Then later on I read about Marija Gimbutas’ discoveries and felt transported and on a quest to learn all I could about this numinous being whom I related to.
Mary: What was the most important thing you discovered in your research on habitations of the Goddess?
Cristina: The importance of negative space as a defining component of spiritual meaning.
Mary: How has this influenced your own work as an artist?
Cristina: I created a sculpture as a temple to be entered.
Mary: An edition of Habitations of The Great Goddess has recently been published in Italian. What special attraction do you think this edition will have for Italian readers?
Cristina: I believe Italian readers will appreciate the idea of architecture as sacred sculpture flowing with and into the landscape.
Mary: I’m sure they will. Your work has a beautiful, rhythmic flow that is very evocative of the body of the Great Goddess. Thank you. It’s been a pleasure to talk to you today.
Cristina: You’re welcome.
Cristina Biaggi’s Habitations of the Great Goddess is a comprehensive examination of the tombs, temples and artifacts dedicated to the female deity of prehistory – the Great Goddess, copiously illustrated with plates, drawings and photographs mostly taken by the author herself. Biaggi has concentrated on Malta and the Orkney and Shetland Islands which, even if far apart, seem to have an ideological connection. As Marija Gimbutas states, “No work before Biaggi’s has analyzed the findings within the context of a theacratic society worshiping a female Goddess as a main deity and provides solid evidence for the existence of the Goddess religion in Europe.” Riane Eisler has noted that, “her book verifies important links in the chain of evidence of Goddess worship from the Paleolithic over 20,000 years ago to early historic times.”
To purchase Le abitazioni della dea, Luciana Percovitch’s splendid Italian translation of Cristina Biaggi’s Habitations of the Great Goddess, click here.
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