Featuring specially commissioned new print works by 21 artists, using the Glasgow Women's Library collection as inspiration, this exhibition presents an interesting and diverse selection of work by some of the most preeminent artists working in Scotland today. To accompany the works, 21 writers were asked to participate with new texts and performance readings.
Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL) is the sole resource of its kind in Scotland. Launched in 1991, it is an accredited museum, an archive and library used by thousands of visitors each year. GWL has amassed a remarkable collection that charts women’s and equalities campaigns, showcasing and conserving the diversity of women’s history and creativity.
To mark the Library’s 21st birthday in 2012 and with the support of funding from Creative Scotland and Museums Galleries Scotland, GWL commissioned 21 women artists to create limited edition fine art prints inspired by items in its collections. These new works draw on campaign badges, knitting patterns, Suffragette memorabilia, album covers, recipe books, feminist newsletters and other gems found within the Library’s thousands of archive boxes or library shelves.
The 21 artists are: Sam Ainsley; Claire Barclay; Ruth Barker; Karla Black; Nicky Bird; Ashley Cook; Delphine Dallison; Kate Davis; Fiona Dean; Helen de Main; Kate Gibson; Ellie Harrison; Elspeth Lamb; Shauna McMullan; Jacki Parry; Ciara Phillips; Lucy Skaer; Corin Sworn; Sharon Thomas; Amanda Thomson and Sarah Wright.
The 21 writers are: Karen Campbell; Anne Donovan; Margaret Elphinstone; Vicki Feaver; Helen Fitzgerald; Muriel Gray; Jan Hadfield; Jackie Kay; A.L Kennedy; Liz Lochhead; Kirsty Logan; Laura Marney; Heather Middleton; Alison Miller; Denise Mina; Donna Moore; Elizabeth Reeder; Leela Soma; Zoe Strachan; Louise Welsh and Zoe Wicomb.
The artworks were exhibited at the Centre for Contemporary Art, Glasgow (September 2012) and subsequently at the Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh (July - September 2013) and Creative Scotland, Edinburgh (March - April 2014).
