Art and the Women’s Movement in the UK 1970–1990

Activity in 2022-23

Our public seminar ‘Mapping the Landscape: In Conversation with Griselda Pollock and Sutapa Biswas’ set the context for the group’s research into this period and framed some of our key questions. These include:

• Who were the artists who were making work in this period and how were they connected to one another?
• What was the impact of the socio-political movements and moments of the time to the artwork that was created, in terms of material, working processes and dissemination of work?
• Why are these stories so hard to find? What and who led to these artists and their artworks disappearing from public view?

We have responded to these questions through a series of drop-in events at the Whitworth, our public seminar, and an artist roundtable.

Our first in gallery drop-in event invited members of the public to join us alongside Mary Kelly’s Multi Story House (2007), part of the Whitworth’s collection. The session included an introduction to Kelly’s work in the context of the feminist movement, and a background to Multi Story House, which brings together stories from different generations of women about their relationship to the women’s movement, in an international context. We introduced the research group and its aims, which set the scene for a group discussion about contemporary relevance of the show. It came up that looking at the Irish context was important and often omitted.

Olivia, Zuza and Linsey hosted and facilitated an artist roundtable with Su Richardson and SuAndi in a closed session at the Whitworth. The aim of this research event was to hear from artists on their experience of 1970s and 80s, focusing on self-initiated exhibitions and activity presented in Manchester, in relation to the women’s movement. A strong thread of discussion was around class barriers, the pressures of making a living alongside making art, and navigating connections/disconnections with institutions and funders. Audio excerpts from the roundtable will be reproduced in the group’s final zine, to be published in 2024.

Given our research relies on unpublished, first-hand personal experiences, archives and anecdotes, our final event took the form of an open invitation to the public to contribute information on the Women’s Movement in Manchester and the Northwest. We welcomed 13 women into the session, most of whom were directly involved in activism and organising in Manchester in the 1970s and 80s. Many had stayed connected to feminist causes to the present day and had strong interconnections with other activist women.

Important questions that came up were about collecting interviews with Manchester women, expanding the focus on music and Punk in Manchester, and paying careful attention to usage of terminology from the time.

Looking to 2024-25, we have developed a dialogue with Professor Jackie Stacey and Lancaster-based artist Lubaina Himid about what it means to bring the exhibition Women in Revolt! to Manchester in 2025. Both have agreed to participate in a public discussion on this subject in spring 2025. We will record the event, add subtitles, and host it online for posterity.

Following the success of our ‘Drop in and share’ gallery event, we are planning a follow up session to include informal presentations and showings of materials from the era. These will feed into the zine presenting the research group’s findings and into our ongoing mapping of Manchester’s activist history and relationship to the women’s movement, in advance of Women in Revolt! coming to the Whitworth in 2025.