Feminist Futures in the Archive

This research day responds to the ‘Animated Activism: Women Empowered’ exhibition currently at the Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery.

This research day responds to the ‘Animated Activism: Women Empowered’ exhibition currently on show at the Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery, University of Leeds. This exhibition showcases the vital work of two pioneering organisations; the Leeds Animation Workshop and Women’s Aid. These organisations took creative, grassroots approaches to campaigning for women’s rights and addressing social issues that had previously been overlooked. They were driven by an urgent need for change - sparking protest, progress, policy reforms, and empowerment. Drawing on archival materials held at the Brotherton library, this exhibition is a vivid account of a half-century’s struggle for women’s rights.

You can find out more about the exhibition here.

The research day is a space for people to come together and celebrate the survival of these organisations, reflect on the value of preserving and archiving their activities, as well the work which is still to be done. The day will be a mix of screenings, discussion and creative activities, with an emphasis on collective making.

Creative Activity 2

*Film screenings Never Give Up (2000, Vera Media) and Voices from the Archive (2018, Helen Clarke).

The film screening will show an extract from Never Give Up (2000, Vera Media), made as part of the Yorkshire Media Consortium. The documentary explores campaigns against violence against women in West Yorkshire. It uses the conference, ‘Responses to Male Violence against Women and Children in Leeds’ in 2000 as a fulcrum, and traces campaigns back to the early 1970s.

Voices from the Archive is a publication of ten posters made by the artist Helen Clarke in response to material from the Reclaim the Night archive in Special Collections (University of Leeds). The posters were produced as part of a Feminist Archive North residency in 2018, and take the form of a broadsheet newspaper.

These two works are part of an ongoing conversation with events and actions evidenced in the Animated Activism exhibition and, alongside the HENS presentation, will add further context to our discussion and creative activity 2.

The Research Day has been organised by FERNS (Feminist Empowerment and Research Network) who are Melanie Bell, Nicole Butler, Helen Clarke, Kate Dossett, and Sharon Hooper, and supported by the Special Collections and Galleries Cultural Collections team (UoL).

Reserve a spot here.