The landmark exhibition, Women in Revolt! Art and Activism in the UK 1970-1990 will feature over 90 women artists and collectives whose ideas were forged against the backdrop of seismic social, political and economic change during the 1970s and 1980s. Organised in collaboration with Tate Britain and National Galleries of Scotland, this will be its first free entry presentation. This first major UK survey of feminist art celebrates the powerful and often provocative work of women whose radical ideas and rebellious methods changed the face of British culture.
Women in Revolt! explores six key themes, spanning two decades of art and activism. Beginning in 1970 with the first UK women’s liberation conference, the exhibition covers topics including the campaigns for equal pay and labour rights, the body and sexuality,
maternal and domestic experiences, punk, post-punk and subcultures, Greenham Common and the peace movement, anti-racist campaigning and the visibility of Black and South Asian women artists, women’s place in the social and economic system of Thatcher’s Britain, Disability Arts, lesbian representation, Section 28 and HIV activism.
The exhibition highlights the ways in which women challenged societal norms through their creativity, both collectively and independently, using their lived experiences to create art and fight injustice.
Paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, textiles, films, photography, and documentation of performances will be shown alongside a range of archival materials, with many artworks on display for the first time since the 1970s.
Visitors will see works by artists who are well known today including Turner Prize winners, side-by-side with an array of artists who, despite their long careers, have been left out of the previous art historical narratives. Posters created by See Red Women’s Workshop and Lenthall Road Workshop directly reflect the demands and concerns of the Women’s Liberation Movement. Documentary photography by Format Photography Agency, Mumtaz Karimjee, alongside mixed medium artists Bhajan Hunjan and Caroline Coon reflect protests and campaigns and affirming women’s central role in the activism of the period.
On the Whitworth’s sculpture terrace visitors will see An Edible Family in a Mobile Home by Bobby Baker. This major artwork contains five life-size sculptures of family members made from cake, biscuit and meringue, which will be steadily eaten by the public. First presented in 1976 in Baker’s prefabricated home, the work has been unseen for almost 50 years. Restaged in 2023 at Tate Britain and now travelling to the Whitworth, its interior fully refreshed, this is a unique opportunity to experience this iconic installation for the last time.
The cakes will be baked by Manchester’s women-owned and run Long Boi’s Bakehouse and assembled by Bobby Baker and her team. Visitors to the gallery will be invited into the house to sample the delicious edible sculptures, welcomed by hosts selected from creative courses at The University of Manchester, and trained by Baker herself. An Edible Family in a Mobile Home will be on display at the Whitworth from 7 March until 20 April 2025.
Women In Revolt! opens during Women’s History Month. Olivia Heron, exhibition curator, said: “We are thrilled to bring this monumental exhibition to Manchester. Celebrating the work of a constellation of women artists, the exhibition showcases the challenges and triumphs they experienced as women during the 1970s and 80s and we hope visitors will resonate with the ideas and urgencies that the exhibition explores throughout.”
