Online archive
There’s an
exciting online resource called the Women’s Liberation Movement Music Archive,
which documents the bands, musicians and musical projects that were part of the
burgeoning of creativity generated by the Women’s Liberation Movement (WLM) of
the 1970s and 1980s.
During that era,
women’s music, film and theatre groups, visual art, literature, performance
art, street theatre and other activities proliferated, fusing artistic
activities with politics to develop and express feminist ideas.
Feminist bands
and musicians were not solely about providing entertainment, but also embodied
a commitment to putting politics into practice and advancing women’s rights.
Challenging sexism and stereotyped gender roles, their lyrics and style
reflected the values of the WLM. They were a vital and integral part of the
movement, yet are often omitted from, or marginalised by, the media and
historical accounts.
Concerned that
this part of women’s history was at risk of being lost, Dr Deborah Withers and
Frankie Green believe the achievements of these music-makers should be mapped
and celebrated. This work-in-progress collection comprises testimonies and
interviews, discographies, gigographies and memorabilia – plus links to ongoing
women’s music-making and feminist activism.
Touring
exhibition
Music &
Liberation, An Exhibition about Women’s Liberation Music Making in the UK
(1970-1989) will show how feminists used music as an activist tool to entertain
and empower women during the 1970s and 1980s. It brings together a diverse
collection of women’s cultural heritage to inspire and inform contemporary
audiences about the politics of music making.
The grant from
the Heritage Lottery Fund was announced in January, and will be spent on a
touring exhibition visiting the following venues:
Butetown History & Arts Centre,
Cardiff 4 – 24 September
Bureau Gallery, Manchester, 27 September –
25 October
Glasgow Women’s Library, Glasgow, 29
October – 26 November
Space Station Sixty-Five, London
30 Nov – 15 Jan 2013
The HLF grant
will pay for the high-quality digitisation of audio and visual material,
including live performances, studio recordings, practices and TV appearances. A
CD of music from Music & Liberation will be produced, and 10 new oral
histories collected. The music, films and oral histories will be available to
watch and listen to at the exhibition. Ephemera and artefacts such as posters,
songbooks, t-shirts, instruments and flyers will also be displayed.
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