Woman, Image and Identity

Beauty? was the first year of the project, and also coincided with the first exhibition at the newly opened Women’s Library- Beauty Queens, Smiles, Swimsuits and Sabotage.

A group of six 14-15 year old girls from Mulberry School for Girls came together with seven women between the ages of 55-91, recruited through Magic Me, The Women’s Library and local newspaper advertisement.

Led by performance maker Sue Mayo, spoken word artist Leah Thorn and photographer Anita McKenzie the group explored ideas and feelings about ‘beauty’ through the use of photography, drama, collage and creative writing.

Very moving – a very original and beautiful piece of performance art. Thank you, I really enjoyed it. It was especially nice to see a group with such a wide age range working together and creating a new and positive idea of how we can conceive of beauty.

Audience Member

The project resulted in the group creating three large photographic images, each one a constructed image that demonstrated the meaning of ‘beauty’ to them. A private view was held at the Women’s Library, where the group presented their spoken word and poetry to audiences of Women’s Library supporters, friends and students from the school. The images were exhibited in The Women’s Library foyer for 6 months and in Mulberry school for the following year.

Participants
Students from Mulberry School for Girls
Local older women

Artists
Sue Mayo (performance skills)
Leah Thorn (spoken word artist)
Anita McKenzie (photographer)

Funders
Lucas Tooth Trust
The Women’s Library
National Lottery through Awards for All