getting attention

Challenge the Five Percent!

2 Aug 2022

And what is the 5% that needs to be challenged? It's the percentage of civic statues in this country that portray women - real women, not mythological or made-up figures - real women who contributed to our society. Even with the exceptional increases in women honoured with a civic statue that we have seen in the last 5 years it's still only a paltry 5% to represent 50 % of the population! Just look at this lovely project to put a bronze sculpture in the heart of Nottingham, depicting the stories of women working in Midlands' textile mills and those enslaved working in cotton fields in America and the Caribbean. Such a sisterly combination of images of women, historically oppressed and exploited . The work is by sculptor Rachel Carter and she is inviting us all to "Challenge the 5%" by making a selfie with hashtag Challenge the 5% and posting it on social media. More information is available on her site - link below.  

https://www.rachelcarter.co.uk/support-the-project

Margaret Thatcher

27 May 2022

After a lot of contoversy the statue of ex-prime Minister, Mrs Thatcher, has been lowered into place ready to be unvelied at some as yet undisclosed date, in her home town of Grantham. It has been placed on a high plinth  "to deter vandalsim". Always a divisive figure, her statue has had eggs thrown at it, less than an hour after its placement.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-61455387

Welcome Back, Mary Anning

24 May 2022

'Mary Anning: mother of dragons, breaker of rocks, Lyme Regis-born paleo pioneer'                                                                                                           

From this small maquette made by sculptor by Denise Dutton and displayed in Lyme Regis during the fundraising campaign 'Mary Anning Rocks', the real statue has been now sculpted, cast in bronze and unveiled by Prof Alice Roberts, cheered on by the crowds. Denise's work on this figure has been featured on Art UK's site - see link below.

Prof Roberts said: "Mary Anning - welcome back to Lyme Regis." She added: "It makes Mary Anning visible as a role model for any woman wanting to get into science. This is her place, where she was from and where she made all her discoveries. But she also represents the change we need in our society - we need to push further and bring more people into science" 

The statue will also help to correct the historical record. Many of Mary's fossil finds were bought by wealthy men and displayed as their own. These false claims are gradually being corrected and the real value of her work properly recognised. As with so much of the work of women - especially poor working class women - her role had been rendered invisible for decades by men who had wealth but did not have her capacity for hard work or her intelligent enquiring mind.

https://www.maryanningrocks.co.uk

https://artuk.org/discover/stories/the-sculptor-bringing-dorset-palaeontologist-mary-anning-to-life?

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/may/21/mary-anning-fossil-hunting-pioneer-statue-lyme-regis-dorset

Emmeline and her Mother

24 May 2022

This maquette of the statue of Sophia Goulden and her daughter Emmeline Pankhurst by sculptor Sean Hedges-Quinn is now on public display in the Visitor Centre at the Tynwald building, Isle of Mann.

Sophia took Emmeline to a Women's Suffrage meeting aged 14 whiere she heard ‘a confirmed suffragist', Lydia Becker, who was to play an important role in the Isle of Man's becoming the first country in the world to grant votes to women in 1881.

https://www.facebook.com/SophiaGouldenCampaign/

Poetic Licence?

10 May 2022

Italy has another row over a statue of a woman, this time in the southern town of Sapri. It's a bronze statue by Stifano, with only the suggestion of clothing, supposedly to honour a 19th Century poem  The sculpture is allegedly a tribute to Luigi Mercantini's 1857 poem, La Spigolatrice di Sapri (The Gleaner of Sapri), about a military encounter.

Congresswoman Laura Boldrini said the statue was "an offense to women and to the history it should celebrate". She and other female politicians are calling for its removal.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-58723918

Statues as Symbols

7 May 2022

Centuries may pass but the symboic power of statues remains as strong as ever. All across europe soviet era statues are being toppled in protest at Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Whilst these monumental effigies of the politically powerful are now smashed, the small and dignified commemoration of the last terror imposed on Ukraine by the Soviets - the Holdomor - remains standing. The Holdemor was a soviet engineered famine in Ukraine that resulted in millions of deaths. ( See https://www.invisiblewomen.org.uk/gettingattention/post/218 for more information).

https://www.rferl.org/a/soviet-monument-destroyed-war-ukraine-russia/31823629.html

Aberdeen's Invisible Women

6 Apr 2022

Photo: Paul Glendell

Professor Sarah Pedersen is seen here with the mural of famous Aberdeen women in St Nicholas Lane, Aberdeen. But walking around the city, you see no statues of any of these women, despite their achievements.  You can, however, see statues of William Wallace, Edward VII, Robert Burns, General Gordon, Prince Albert and Robert the Bruce, as well as the new statues of Denis Law and Alex Ferguson . Of course, there are the obligatory (2) statues of Queen Victoria, but no real non-royal women. Professor Pedersen argues that the collective representation of women's achievements, such as in the mural, is preferable to the lone statue because it reflects the way in which women work together to achieve thier aims, such as Dundee’s Jute Women, Stornoway’s Herring Girls, and the striking memorial to the Women’s Land Army at Clochan, so whereas men are so frequently displayed in isolation on a tall plinth, the accessible group reflects collective strength and community engagement.  

Photo: Jason Hedges.

Above: The memorial to the Land Girls at Clochan, near Fochabers and Mary Barbour with 'Mrs Barbour's Army'

https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeen-aberdeenshire/3456089/statues-of-women-aberdeen-sarah-pedersen/

Cheaper by The Pound?

6 Apr 2022

photo:Hannele Lahti

In the USA the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, is clebrating Women's History Month 2022 with 120 life-size orange sculptures representing real contemproary women in STEM; biologists, engineers and physicists.They are claiming it as "the largest collection of statues of women ever assembled together...designed to activate a culture shift among young girls to open their eyes to STEM careers," The women portrayed in the statues had their bodies 3D-scanned. A 3D printer created the sculptures using layers of acrylic gel, a process that took about 10 hours for each one. This is reminiscent of the statues of sportswomen on the South Bank in London, also 3D scanned. 

And whilst it is always good to see women's achievements celebrated, ( even if the sportswomen's images were also used to promote the Adidas sports bras! ) this mass method does rather smack of being "cheaper by the pound".  One wonders where they will eventually be housed, how the materials will stand the test of time and whether the skill and respect of a statue made by a sculptor and cast in bronze might not be a more worthy tribute.

https://www.cnet.com/culture/smithsonian-displays-largest-collection-of-statues-of-women-ever-assembled/

https://www.cnet.com/culture/smithsonian-displays-largest-collection-of-statues-of-women-ever-assembled/

Wonderful Welsh Women.

4 Apr 2022

The group Monumental Welsh Women is behind the creation of this statue by sculptor, Emma Rodgers, of Dr Elaine Morgan unveiled on the 18th March 2022 outside the Tŷ Calon Lân Medical Centre in Mountain Ash. Elaine was an award-winning author, TV writer, lecturer and scientific rebel. Ms Hitt, who sits on the Monumental Women committee - a group that aims to deliver five public statues of real women in five years - said a statue of Dr Morgan would help inspire future generations: "Elaine for me particularly represented the valleys woman. She came from the humbleness of backgrounds, a miner's daughter, and yet changed the world."  When she went for a university interview she was mistaken for a cleaner because of her accent, but that did not deter her. She lived most of her life in Mountain Ash and was awarded the freedon of Rhondda Cynon Taf just months before her death at 92. Ms Hitt said Dr Morgan was one of the most brilliant intellects Wales has ever produced. "She had a huge impact on me as a valleys girl and proved that it didn't matter where you came from, you could aim high. I really hope her spirit will live on in this statue, and young girls will walk past her in Mountain Ash for generations and they'll be inspired by her too."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-60787095

Symbol of Resistence

11 Mar 2022

Whilst dictators and tyrants around the world erect immense statues to impose thier rule over people,  and Putin wages a war in Ukraine that is the extreme embodiment of toxic masculinity, this small statue of a sad emaciated girl holding a handful of wheat ears stands at the entrance to the memorial park in Kyiv. A  Candle of Remembrance burns beside her. She embodies the unbreakable spirit of a people in the face of the cruel history of previous attempts of the Russians to overwhelm Ukraine. The monument commemorates the Holodomor; an event after the end of end of the First World War, when Ukraine was an independent state, but in 1919 the Soviet Union "sucked" it into the community of Soviet states. The Ukrainians, who even then considered themselves a Central European people like the Poles and not an Eastern European like the Russians, tried to restore Ukraine's independence. Stalin 'nationalised'  the grain-producing land from the Ukrainian peasants, and all its produce thus creating an artificial famine. The goal was to "teach Ukrainians to be smart" so that they would no longer oppose official Moscow. Thus the people who produced the most grain in Europe were left without bread. The peak of the Holodomor was in the spring of 1933. In Ukraine at that time, it is estimated that 17 people died of hunger every minute, more than 1,000 every hour, and almost 24,500 every day.  People were literally starving to death in the streets.

Volodymyr Zelensky: The Holodomor is not a social or economic tragedy, it is a genocide,”

When the statue was vandalised in August 21 an official said  “It really hurts. The event shocked Ukrainians. The act of vandalism against the sculpture was symbolic. For decades, they tried to destroy and erase the memories of the genocide". Restoration of this monument shows the will of the people to retain the memory.  

The Holodomor at that time broke the Ukrainian resistance, but it made the desire for Ukraine's independence from Russia eternal.

https://www.facebook.com/100000157450336/posts/5628771123804747/?sfnsn=scwspmo

https://holodomormuseum.org.ua/en/news/thevolodymyr-zelensky-the-holodomor-is-not-a-social-or-economic-tragedy-it-is-a-genocide/

Overcoming All the Odds

11 Mar 2022

The statue is of Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy has taken centre stage in Bridge Street, Congleton. She was a lifelong campaigner for women's rights in the UK anf the unveiling took place fittingly, on International Women's Day. She is seen here surrounded by sculptor Hazel Reeves and the current-day camapigners who worked so long and hard to make this event a reality. She lived in Congleton from 1867, having previously spent most of her life in several of the villages around what is now Greater Manchester. She fought tirelessly  for women's rights, with a particular focus being on girls' education.This had been a point of special importance to Elizabeth, as she and her brother had been afforded vastly unequal levels of education as children, with her brother ultimately becoming a professor of mathematics at Cambridge while Elizabeth was not even permitted a higher education. Despite this lack of formal education, she was dubbed 'the brains od the Suffragist movement " by no less a person than Emmeilne Pankhurst.

Elizabeth also campaigned for women's rights within marriage, including women's property rights in marriage, as the law in the UK in the 19th century was that a woman's property became her husband's upon marriage. Her statue was unveiled by Baroness Hale, a British judge who served as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2017.

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/statue-activist-unveiled-town-lived-6773678

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-merseyside-60666742

Dame Ethel Immortalised

11 Mar 2022

Unveiled on International Women's Day this statue of composer, writer, suffragette, and sportswoman, Dame Ethel Smythe, depicting her in conducting pose with baton raised, was unveiled in the center of Woking. Dame Ethel was famed throughout her life for being the first female composer to receive a Damehood for services to music. She was an active suffragette and had been imprisoned for breaking a window as part of a suffragette protest. She was also an early LGBTQ+ figure, who lived in Hook Heath, Woking, from 1910 until her death in 1944. 

Sculptor Christine Charelsworth said: "She was a very confident woman, a very clever woman, very full of energy, and didn't suffer fools gladly, apparently!" Councillor Liam Lyons, the mayor of Woking ( a music graduate and an admirer of the suffragettes ) said he was proud to welcome the statue to the town centre. Christine Charlesworth the sculptor also recently unveiled statues of Emily Davison in Epsom town centre and Greta Thunberg at the University of Winchester.  she said it was very exciting to see the statue of Dame Ethel up after so many Covid-related delays.  "I made her in the same studio that I did Emily Wilding Davison. I had 40 buckets of clay. I had to do Emily first, then the clay had to go back into the bucket and then I could start on Smyth. 

https://surrey.woimtg.com/?p=4888

http://www.christinecharlesworth.co.uk/news/dame-ethel-smyth/

https://www.woking.gov.uk/news/dame-ethel-smyth-statue-stands-tall-dukes-plaza

Tackling Inequality

6 Mar 2022

The days when women had to fight not to be assessed like cattle in the so called 'beauty' pagents of the sixties are a thing of the past if Brighton's Rugby playing Queen Danielle Evans is anything to go by.  “Pageantry is evolving and becoming more diverse. I am not stick thin, I am a plus sized, curvy woman, and for me it is a real honour to represent the city I love so dearly. Brighton is so unique and is known for its inclusivity and diversity and I stand by that ethos.”

She is proud to have achieved two degrees and started playing rugby when she studied fashion photography at University.  Always a fighter because she was born prematurely at only 26 weeks. She was given just a five per cent chance of survival. She joined us in support of the Mary Clarke statue campaign on International Womens Day in Brighton, straight after a taster combat session, ready to take on inequality too.

Dame Agatha Immortalised

27 Feb 2022

Sculptor Elisabeth Hadley from Brixham has won a public vote to make a permanent tribute of the crime author in her home town in Torquay, Devon to "one of its most famous daughters, Dame Agatha Christie". Cllr Swithin Long, cabinet member for economic regeneration, tourism and housing said: "Agatha Christie is well known around the world, with many people visiting... each year to learn about what inspired her work.The new sculpture will capture that essence perfectly and really complement the new look Strand." The bronze creation of the author sitting on a bench with her dog will stand in The Strand as part of regeneration works and will be unveiled later in 2022.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-60159356

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/agatha-christie-statue-torquay-harbourside-6563397

Fair Play for Women?

20 Feb 2022

To help push for greater representation of women in London, and "inspire the next generation of changemakers",  Adidas has unveiled eight statues of women who are breaking boundaries in the world of sport, fashion, and culture;

• Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal footballer)
• Eniola Aluko (footballer and commentator)
• Francesca Brown (footballer and CEO of Goals4Girls)
• Ellie Goldstein (dancer and model)
• Emily Scarratt (rugby player)
• Tanya Compas (youth worker and LGBTQ+ activist)
• Asma Elbadawi (basketballer, poet and activist)
• Sherrie Silver (dancer, choreographer, and U.N. advocate)

The statues are also being used to promote the company's bras, which is an unusual motive for erecting a statue. Have we ever seen, or even imagined, statues of a man used to promote, for example, underpants? 

However, in a push for greater equality and an increase in representation of women in London and in sport, Adidas has created these eight colourful 3D printed statues celebrating females to help create a better, more equal future for women. The system uses a product made entirely from sustainably recycled marine farmed waste plastics.

English Heritage has previously admitted that representation of women in the city could be much better, and is encouraging public proposals for more blue plaques for female figures.

The Adidas statues will remain on the South Bank for around two weeks (from 18 February 2022 ), before moving on to take up longer-term placements elsewhere in the UK.

https://londonist.com/london/sport/statues-women-athlete-adidas-south-bank-tower-bridge

https://www.soccerbible.com/news/2022/02/adidas-unveil-statues-of-female-athletes-change-makers-at-tower-bridge/