We/Us by Roman Manfredi.
Co-curated by Ingrid Pollard.
Opening night: 8 March, 6 – 9PM. All welcome.
Exhibition: 9 March – 3 June 2023
Opening hours: 12 – 6PM, Wednesday – Saturdays only.
Additional viewing times available by appointment
Free to visit. Accessible Access. All welcome.
We/Us is an intergenerational photography and oral history project that celebrates the presence of butches and studs from working-class backgrounds within the British landscape. The project explores the experience of female masculinity through the structures of class and race all over the UK, capturing our diversity as well as our commonality.
When searching for images of butches and studs online, most that come up are from a bygone era, or from the US. Conversations around gender and identity today are often academic and London-centric, sometimes forgetting that our identities are informed by our every day lived experiences.
Our history and our lived experience is our gift to the world.
– Joan Nestle, Restricted Country
Press Mentions:
Read the full press release here.
Diva Magazine – We/Us is the UK’s first visual art project celebrating butches and studs from working class backgrounds (March 2023)
The Guardian – ‘It’s a reclamation of masculinity’: the rebirth of butch culture (March 2023)
The Independent – Why being butch is part of the female experience (March 2023)
Exhibition Audio:
Listen to all the audio featured in the exhibition through the playlist below, or click here.
Participants:
Aderonke Apata, Carla Choppy, CJ Sammons, Courtney, Crin Claxton, De Castro, Debbie Smith, Del Dyer, Dovile Lapinskaite, Edyn Culverwell, Fiona King, Gideon Reed, Janina Sabaliauskaite, Jay Hopkins, Joelle Taylor, Keisha, Castello, Khi James, Kin, Laura Njoku, Louise Wallwein, Lyla Row, Lynette Blake, Maia Wyse, Mel McVey, Michelle Kokiri, Mickey Flynn, Nade Wood, Nikki Brewer, Paige McGrory, Sadh Kanadia, Sal Greener, Sam Ross, Shan Haywood, Sim Wright, SJ, Sky Young, Stevie Arnold, Sue Gossedge, SuMay Hwang, Veronica Fearon.
Funders:
We/Us is funded by Arts Council England and Space Art, the contemporary art charity behind Space Station Sixty-Five.