Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990
Tate Britain, London 8 November 2023 – 7 April 2024 Curated by Linsey Young
Mr C: I felt really uncomfortable in there. I could feel all the women’s eyes boring into the back of my head.
Me (wiping tears from my eyes): It made me very emotional. I stand on the shoulders of all those women.
I came out of Tate Britain emotionally exhausted. Wanting to scream. Or cry. Or both.
I was enraged and inspired and frustrated and motivated.
And knew I could never review this exhibition without writing a thesis. So I’ll mostly let the images do the talking.
And offer you lines from books I’ve been reading lately that add to the conversation.
”We are the artists of the oppressed peoples.
We as women bear on our shoulders oppression stretching back into the ancient past.
WE WERE THE FIRST OPPRESSED.”
IMAGES ON WOMANPOWER - ARTS MANIFESTO (1971) From the book, 50 Feminist Art Manifestos, edited by Katy Deepwell
“Housework is much more than house cleaning. it is servicing the wage earners physically, emotionally, sexually, getting them ready for work day after day. it is taking care of our children- the future workers- assisting them from birth through their school years, ensuring that they too perform in the ways expected of them under capitalism. This means that behind every factory, behind every school, behind every office or mine there is the hidden work of millions of women who have consumed their life, their labor, producing the labor power that works in those factories, schools, offices, or mines.”
From Revolution at Point Zero, Silvia Federici
Writer’s note: Where have all the feminist art collectives gone?!
”And it still goes on, and I wonder how this can possibly be.”
Torture of Women by Nancy Spero, 2009
“The most striking aspect of the first rooms is how shockingly relevant the issues still are today. Hitting the news this very week, for instance, is the problem of women having to give up work because they can’t afford child care. Equal pay and equal opportunities are often nice ideas rather than realities, ads are still sexist and, if anything, rape and sexual violence are on the increase.”
Sarah Kent, from her review of the exhibition for theartsdesk.com
I could go on and on showing you images and sharing quotes but you get the picture. This is a mammoth exhibition and historically important; it will stay on my mind for a long time.
Much of the art would not even have been classed as “proper” art by the establishment back when it was created—or even now—so the irony of it being shown in one of the most traditional and prestigious London museums is not lost on me, as other reviewers have also noted.
Once again, it was a reminder to preserve your work! The amount of material collected and curated for this exhibition is extraordinary: everything from badges, posters, zines, newspaper clippings, to large protest banners. Don’t ever think your art is unworthy of being archived. Womxn’s art MUST be preserved.
I’ll leave you with this quote that I love from the book, Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie:
“The knowledge of cooking does not come pre-installed in a vagina.”
But perhaps the knowledge of creating protest art does.
Until next time.
JC
Here are two excellent reviews of the exhibition if you want to read more. They offer differing perspectives on the show.
https://www.showstudio.com/news/women-in-revolt-is-as-dated-as-the-feminism-it-shows
Thank you for a portal into this important show. I’m overwhelmed by your preservation message because I have so much art and many artifacts from my feminist-artist-mother’s loft to care for or dispose of or give away or .. write about. It’s incredible to learn about this same era on the other side of the pond. My mother founded consciousness raising groups and even broadcast hers over NYC radio airwaves. She wrote articles for Women Artists Newsletter. I wish I could get to the Tate to see this exhibition.
Thanks for the amazing review.I too will no be able to attend in person but look forward to recommending the exhibit to faculty and UK at Oxford Brookes.I am currently researching the role of Ruskin College in Oxford in the 1930-1950's where working class people including women and my grandfather where supported to education for all alongside completing a MA thesis on the Role of Participatory Art on Social Cohesion and Positive Peacebuilding.