Motive/Motif: Artists Commemorate the Suffragettes, Vestry House Museum, 24 January - 9 June 2019

This exhibition was co-curated by Charlotte Hodes and Alison Moloney for LCF Year of the Woman, a year-long programme of activity led by London College of Fashion, UAL, to celebrate the centenary of Women's Suffrage in the UK and the passing of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.

Motive/Motif: Artists Commemorate the Suffragettes, is an exhibition consisting of embroideries by 20 renowned and emerging artists who were each commissioned by LCF, to create an image which was embroidered onto a handkerchief to mark Women’s Suffrage and the passing of the 1918 Representation of the People Act.

The starting point for this project was a handkerchief, embroidered in 1912 by women suffragettes who were imprisoned at Holloway Prison. Most of the women who signed the handkerchief participated in demonstrations in March 1912 organised by the Women’s Social & Political Union. They were denied the status of political prisoners and many were force-fed.

The significance of the image on the handkerchief goes far beyond this modest embroidered object. Its beauty belies the women’s struggle and suffering whilst revealing their bond with the embroidered word.

Artists/Designers: Sarah Lucas, Rachel Whiteread, Ghada Amer, Anila Rubiku, Mona Hatoum, Charlotte Hodes, Peter Kennard, Anthony Burrill, Helen Storey, Molly Goddard, Phoebe English, Celia Pym, Chila Burman, Daniel Ramos, Sage Townsend, Jo Cope, Heather Phillipson, Anne Howeson, Dorothy Cross, Francesca Smith.

Vestry House Museum
Vestry Rd
Walthamstow
London
E17 9NH

Charlotte Hodes, handkerchief, cotton, 28 x 28cm, 2018 Photo: Peter Abrahams