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Feminist Archive South Trustee Deborah Withers was the guest on Bristol Community FM‘s LGBT radio show Shout Out on Thursday 25 April 2013.
She talks about the current workshop programme, and the wider Heritage Lottery Funded project to catalogue Ellen Malos’ archives.
Ever wanted to know how an archivist catalogues a large collection?
The Feminist Archive South is offering a unique opportunity for people to shadow the project archivist as she catalogues Ellen Malos’ collection.
Ellen Malos was a key figure in the Bristol Women’s Liberation Movement. The first Women’s Centre opened in the basement of her house in 1973, and her work supporting vulnerable women has been recognised through an Honoury Doctorate at Bristol University (2006), and in the naming of the Next Link Women’s Safe House, ‘Ellen Malos House’ (12 June 2007). Ellen’s archive comprises rare historical material, including documents that have shaped some of the most significant legal and policy transformations within British history relating to gender quality.
You can attend up to four sessions with the archivist, and they will take place during weekdays in the day-time. You do not have to attend all sessions – although if you want to, this is also fine!
This is a great chance to informally learn the skills, practices and knowledge required to do archival work. You also get the chance to look at a load of interesting material about feminist history!
Even if you do not want to pursue archiving as a career, these activities will be relevant to people interested in the history of gender equality, in particular activism relating to women’s aid and violence against women.
Sessions will take place from April-June 2013. Please contact us to arrange a session.
Participation bursaries are available to cover things like childcare, travel and accommodation costs (if coming from outside of Bristol). Please let us know about this when you make an enquiry.
In the next Feminist Archive South workshop which is taking place on Sunday 12 May at MShed from 1-5pm, we will be exploring and making feminist media.
The representation of women in the media remains a hot topic for feminists today. From 2008-2011 the Bristol Feminist Network undertook major research which can be accessed here.
As well as critiquing existing representations, feminists have a long history of making their own media. From Sylvia Pankhurst’s Women’s Dreadnought, to the multitude of contemporary feminist blogs, women have always made their own media to communicate political ideas and create community.
In the workshop on the 12 May we will be focusing on printed media holdings of the Feminist Archive, which include numerous magazines and pamphlets from the Women’s Liberation Movement, examples of which are included below.
As well as learning about the aesthetics, practices and ideas discussed in WLM media, we will also make our own zines and pamphlets in the second part of the workshop.
So come prepared to write, draw, cut, paste and discuss the history of feminist media making!
All welcome!
This week is the beginning of the Feminist Archive South’s workshop programme. The first workshop is taking place this Tuesday 16 April 7-9.30 pm at MShed. All welcome but please contact us to let us know you are coming!
Program for Women’s Liberation first read at the Ruskin Conference in 1970 – one of the items we will be looking at in the workshop
We’ve also updated information about the workshop sessions taking place later in the year…..
Fliers for the workshop series designed by Jan Martin.
In the next 8 months and beyond, we will be using this blog to showcase the FAS collections that have been fairly underused since we moved to Special Collections at Bristol University in 2009.
At the moment we are looking through the collections in order to select material for the first workshop that will take place at MShed on Tuesday, 16 April from 7-9.30pm.
As Ellen’s archives have been the inspiration for this project, we couldn’t resist sharing this interview with her from Bristol University’s magazine, Nonesuch in 2002. The article also includes some of the imagery from the archive.
As part of the Heritage Lottery project we are holding 8 workshops related to Ellen Malos’ archives and the holdings of the Feminist Archive South. These workshops are free to attend and open to everybody.
The workshops will be an opportunity to explore archive materials and learn about feminist history along the way.
You don’t have to have any prior experience or knowledge (but if you do this is also fine!) We want to create a space where people can bring their own experiences and knowledge to explore what these archives mean today.
We will post more information about the workshops soon, including information on how to book a place. All workshops will be taking place at MShed, the people’s history museum in the centre of Bristol.
A lot of the workshop content will be decided on by participants – we want you to explore the treasure trove that is the Feminist Archive South and learn about what matters to you. You may have a passion for feminist media or Greenham Common peace camp, for example. Or you may want to learn about the campaign for equal pay, the struggle for abortion rights, anti-imperialism, or how feminists used the arts to agitate and inspire.
This is an opportunity to delve deeper into the heritage of an inspirational, revolutionary, challenging and complex social movement, the struggles of which are still being played out today.
In the first workshop on Tuesday 16th April we will explore the question ‘What is an Archive?’ to get us going on our journey. Hope to see you there!
Here is a list of dates of the other workshops.
Sunday 12th May – 1 to 5pm
Thursday 23rd May – 7 to 9.30pm
Sunday 9th June – 1 to 5pm
Tuesday 18th June – 7 to 9.30pm
Thursday 27th June – 7 to 9.30pm
Saturday 6th July – 1 to 5pm
Saturday 20th July – 1 to 5pm