A fascinating new exhibition which explores the histories of Black and South Asian feminist activists in postwar Britain is on display at St Paul’s Learning Centre and Bristol Central Library throughout March.
‘Women Strike Back’ has been curated by a team of University of Bristol academics, led by historian Dr Saima Nasar and, for the first time, brings together collections from the Bishopsgate Institute (London) and the Feminist Archive South (Bristol) to celebrate the stories of Black and South Asian women in postwar Britain.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Black and South Asian women came together in various community and activist groups including, but not limited to, The Organisation of Women of African and Asian Descent (OWAAD), Brixton Black Women’s Group (BBWG) and United Black Women’s Action Group (UBWAG).
Within these collectives, and as individual activists, they highlighted issues that greatly impacted their lives relating to race, gender, and class. As this exhibition shows, they were at the forefront of campaigns for equity in housing, healthcare, and labour relations. They also spearheaded campaigns relating to education, reproductive rights and anti-deportation and immigration.
In order to advocate for and secure important social, political and economic rights, Black and South Asian women took part in strikes, demonstrations, street protests, print activism, and transnational solidary campaigns.
Dr Nasar said: “This is by no means an exhaustive historical overview, but we hope that in displaying these collections we can celebrate the stories of these powerful women. Our aim was to bring the rich archival materials we have encountered in our research into community spaces.”
This exhibition displays the work of photographers such as Maggie Murray, Vil Wilmer, Pam Isherwood, Sheila Gray and others. The event organisers (Abi Freeman, Saima Nasar, Sarah Howard, Siza Dube and Sreenanti Banerjee) would like to thank them for granting copyright permission.
The Bishopsgate Institute, the Feminist Archive South, the University of Bristol’s Special Collections Arts and Social Sciences Library, St Paul’s Learning Centre, Bristol Central Library, the University’s Centre for Black Humanities and the Leverhulme Trust have also supported the project.
The exhibition will be open from March 9 to 31 at the St Paul’s Learning Centre. It’s a free exhibition which will be available to view Monday to Thursday (10am – 6.30pm) and Friday to Saturday (10am-4.30pm). There will also be a sister exhibition at Bristol Central Library from March 9 to 31.
The launch event will take place on Monday 9 March (12noon-2pm) at St Paul’s Learning Centre which will include a poetry reading from local poet Vanessa Kisuule. All are welcome and tickets can be booked here. Alternatively, please feel free to contact Dr Nasar via email at [email protected]
