disobedient objects

 A day in London yesterday. I visited the National Portrait Gallery to see their exhibition about the suffragettes.  On the right are police mug shots of women known to the police.

The Steps outside the V & A decorated with text about activism

  From there I went to The Victoria & Albert Museum to see their Disobedient Objects exhibition which I thought was energising, unusual and very relevant to my  studies.



 
























The combination of the two exhibitions served to remind me that the suffragettes were seen as extremists in their time.  They had tried campaigning and lobbying for the vote with no success and their only option was 'deeds not words'.  The suffered abuse, ridicule and ill treatment.

The exhibition included Chilean arpilleros, which I had read about but never seen.    They offered the Chilean women an opportunity to express their personal grief, spread word of the atrocities the Chilean people had suffered plus, importantly, earn some money so that they could survive.

One of the exhibits included a little hand written notes addressed to whoever bought the textile.  It put me in mind of the recent notes found attached to Primark garments, from the factory machinists informing the purchaser about exhaustion, slave labour and poor food endured by the workers.

Many exhibition items which had been hand stitched, hand constructed or screen printed and it had a very authentic, hand made and contrived chaotic layout.