The most rewarding part of the exhibition for me was just to be present during the three days it was open and actually see the impact of our hard work, it was amazing to witness visitors engage with the way that we decided to showcase the different collections and how they reflect our society and heritage and to discuss with them what importance the exhibition or a specific collection/interpretation holds. I tried to take notes where I could and of the many visitors I met, a few really stood out:
- Jennifer, a retired teacher, told me she had taken a photograph of ‘Rebel Girls’ and plans to buy it. She mentioned having a bad day yesterday but said she felt uplifted from visiting our exhibition, we talked about library accessibility and the importance of exhibitions.
- Derek, a mature ballet dancer who takes classes three times per week, really identified with ‘Fitness for Women’, we spoke about gender differences in generations, Billy Elliot, Margaret Morris Movement and the significance of marriage titles e.g. Mrs/Miss in his generation as well as his mother’s generation.
- Danny, a gardener, was really interested in the Isabella Bird photographs in the travel section. We talked about class differences in women and he showed me a book about life in the slums of London in 1902 titled ‘People of the Abyss’, that he is currently reading.
- Eleanor, who unfortunately did not have time to see the full exhibition, explained she is deaf and has trouble with the rate technology is moving, she asked what advice we would have for her.
Interactive display incorporating ‘Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls’ c. The Author (2020)
Digital projection of ‘Fitness for Women’ c. The Author (2020)
Travel section – featuring books and protected/touchable facsimiles of photographs by Isabella Bird c. The Author (2020)
A dual display of original/digitised pages of Phoebe Anna Traquair’s illustrated manuscript of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s ‘Sonnets from the Portuguese’ c. The Author (2020)
Tablet with access to GA&C online exhibit ‘Making the Perfect Home: Broadside Ballads and Advice to Women’ c. The Author (2020)
Activism section – Featuring a recording of Millicent Fawcett’s Home and Politics speech available on wireless headphones c. The Author (2020)
Desktop PC with instructions to make ‘The Gender Games’ and other digital legal deposit collections accessible to visitors c. The Author (2020)
Collections brought into Conversation Corner from GWL speakers and archive c. The Author (2020)
Notably, these are all visitors to the library who have simply chanced upon our exhibition. It was really interesting to hear their various viewpoints and be able to connect with them in person, and the five of us being present in the exhibition, in addition to the conversation corner, definitely afforded the visitors a more intimate experience of our curation of the library’s collections. I think it is the perfect end in that the focus of the exhibition ultimately came full circle to achieve an ideal outcome expressed in our very first meeting, of creating a participatory space that invites discussion.
Visitors watching ‘Fitness for Women’ c. The Author (2020)
Visitors interacting with ‘Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls’ display c. The Author (2020)
My Dad finding Orion’s Belt in Meg’s exhibition design, which features the Andromeda Constellation c. The Author (2020)
Myself with our youngest visitor to the exhibition at 6 weeks! c. Carl Todd (2020)
Meg giving a tour to student visitors, finishing in the Conversation Corner c. The Author (2020)
Lauren and Morag from GWL chatting with a visitor in the Conversation Corner c. The Author (2020)
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