This paper draws upon 'Glean: Early 20th century women filmmakers and photographers in Scotland at City Art Centre, Edinburgh, which brought together 125 works, by 14 women, from 17 archives. Rather than a homogeneous narrative, or the women's biographies over-shadowing their work, the exhibition sought to retain complexities and the diverse motivations behind their oeuvres. The paper looks at curatorial research methods used to develop such an approach.

This paper was part of 'Feminist Histories of the Future', a symposium bringing together artists, writers, curators and scholars investigating women's creative legacies. This event was curated by Rebecca Fortnum, as part of her exhibition 'Les Practiciennes', at Henry Moore Institute (2023).