Exhibition - 209 Women
‘209 Women’ is a national, artist-led project to celebrate the centenary of women’s suffrage and champion the visibility of women, particularly in environments that are still largely maledominated. A collective of 209 female photographers, from across the UK, volunteered their time to make and mark history. To celebrate the 100 years since some women achieved the right to vote, they created new portraits of all 209 female Members of Parliament (MPs). These images are displayed in a free public exhibition in the parliamentary offices at Portcullis House. It opened on the 14 December – 100 years to the day since the first women cast their votes in the 1918 general election. The exhibition fills the walls of the first-floor gallery, but it’s worth noting that even just a few years ago there wouldn’t have been enough female MPs for the portraits to reach half way round. This highlights how much progress has been made even though there is much more to achieve. The 209 Women portraits have certainly inspired the exhibition visitors, as well as those seeing the images in the press and on social media. The MPs worked with the photographers to create pictures that conveyed their identities, their role in the community, and in parliament. They are pictured around the Houses of Parliament, at their own homes and in other significant locations. The exhibition encompasses a diverse range of styles and approaches showcasing the talent working in the UK today. We can’t begin to do it justice here but the visitors’ notes from the 209 Women website give a fantastic insight into the process and what it means to those who were involved.
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