Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 24, 1993 TAG: 9306250414
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Thick, luxuriant fabrics of dark purples and burgundies, browns and black, are sewn together with bright colors and golden threads.
The impressionistic but recognizable images are being shown through Sunday on the walls of Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea on the Roanoke City Market.
The wall hangings are the work of Jeht Matous, a former resident of Florida who's been living in Christiansburg for the past seven months.
Her interest in the subject of "Afroasiatic diasporal art" - the name she gives the genre she works in - goes back four years, though.
The Diaspora is the name given to the dispersion of the Jews throughout the world after the Babylonian exile. Though American Jewry is composed primarily of those of European backgrounds, Jews settled in many parts of the globe, including Africa and Asia.
Jews in every part of the world, while preserving much of their own ethnic and religious culture, eventually took on characteristics of the cultures they joined.
Matous' exhibit is intended to reflect the reverence for Shabbat - the Sabbath - from the viewpoint of the Jewish communities established in Africa and Asia, "utilizing ancient symbols and techniques."
During a period of intense prayer, Matous said, "I had a vision of the first wall hanging." It was quite a bit different from her current works, she said, but still it was "very Middle Eastern."
Though she had never considered herself an artist and had no formal training, she went ahead with the creations with the encouragement of her husband, David, a substance-abuse counselor.
Matous has written and composed some music, she said, but had never attempted any visual art like the multimedia work she now does.
She made some clothing that reflected the styles of her vision, but it is the creation of wall hangings that is her primary occupation now. All of the pieces now for sale at the coffee shop were created in the past three months, she said.
Matous said she only gradually came to fully appreciate the connection of Jews in Ethiopia or India to the kind of work she was creating, but that influence dominates her current work.
Prices range from $250 to $2,000, with half of the proceeds designated for The Lighthouse Educational Program and Substance Abuse Service, a new program in the New River Valley begun out of a Christian church.
Matous was reared in a spiritual household, she said, and her grandfather was considered a spiritual leader for her entire community on Southwest Georgia.
Though she was not raised as a Jew, Judaism had a strong influence on the melded religious practice of the region. She is now married to a Jew, has a son, and recently affiliated with Roanoke's Temple Emanuel congregation of Reform Judaism. And she said she hopes to continue working for reconciliation among Jews, Christians and Muslims as she did when she lived in Tallahassee.
A day of worship and rest is common to all three religions.
Shabbat's significance as a time of peace and rest was particularly significant in the Afroasiatic diaspora, Matous says - "a time of sustaining comfort . . . in which the daily struggles between the oppressor and the oppressed, and men with one another, would cease."
Despite the religious themes, Matous believes her works can be appreciated on a purely aesthetic level as well.
"The question is, can you identify with the images?"
She believes everyone can.
"Afroasiatic diasporal art" by Jeht Matous is on view at Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea, 112 Campbell Ave. S.E., Roanoke, through Sunday.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***