Reading Group & Screening led by Dr. Catherine Spencer

About

Join us for a Reading Group & Screening led by Dr. Catherine Spencer on Wednesday 22nd February from 6-8pm in Cooper Gallery.

Catherine Spencer will lead a Reading Group to delve into the involvement of women in strike action in the UK and France with examples from the 60s and 70s. The evening will also include a Screening of the little known film Women of the Rhondda(1972, courtesy of Cinenova) which turns much needed attention to the role played by women in the gruelling Welsh Miners' Strikes of the 1920s and 30s. 

This event is part of our Event Series for Of Other Spaces: Where Does Gesture Become Event? 

Please sign up via the Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/reading-group-screening-led-by-dr-catherine-spencer-tickets-32114793211​

Biography

Catherine Spencer is a Lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Art at the University of St Andrews. Her research and teaching focuses primarily on performance art since 1960, particularly in Europe, North America and Latin America. She is currently co-editing the book London Art Worlds: Mobile, Contingent and Ephemeral Networks, 1960-1980 (Penn State University Press) with Jo Applin and Amy Tobin, and her article 'Acts of Displacement: Lea Lublin’s Mon fils, May ’68 and Psychosocial Feminist Revolt’ will be published in the Spring 2017 issue of the Oxford Art Journal. 

Women of the Rhondda
1972, 20 mins
Directors: Esther Ronay, Mary Kelly, Mary Capps, Humphrey Trevelyan, Margaret Dickinson, Brigid Seagrave, Susan Shapiro

The film consists of interviews with four Rhondda women interspersed with shots from Rhondda streets and coal mines. The memories elicited, as well as the importance of working class women's contributions to the strike makes this film essential viewing. The film shows a tremendous commitment to its subject, and an insistence that oppression resides in 'trivial' details and everyday assumptions. 'My brothers ended up the strike very, very sunburnt, whilst my mother was worn out'. (Mrs Davies, Rhondda Valley) A story of solidarity and women's courage which has stayed hidden in more conventional histories. What comes across is the strength of women within the struggles of the labour movement.

Courtesy of Cinenova: Distributor of Feminist Film & Video

Image courtesy of Cinenova and Women of the Rhondda directors Esther Ronay, Mary Kelly, Mary Capps, Humphrey Trevelyan, Margaret Dickinson, Brigid Seagrave, Susan Shapiro.

Upcoming:

Closing Performance Event: Saturday 4 March 2017, 2:00 – 6:00pm with performance by Anne Bean, He Chengyao and Siön Parkinson & Rhubaba Choir. 

All events are free to attend however you may need to RSVP in advance.