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It may have come to your attention that 2018 marks 100 years since the Representation of the People Act, which gave a select group of women in the UK (those over 30, who owned property or were graduates voting in a university constituency) the right to vote for the first time. In light of this momentous anniversary, a lot has been made of what it means to be a young feminist and activist today but sometimes it feels like the loudest voices belong to white women of a certain socioeconomic standing.
A new exhibition from We Are Here UK: British BME Women, a platform for discussion around what it means to be a British BME woman, is going some way towards redressing this imbalance. 100 Years, Today's Woman explores what suffrage really looks like in 2018 by giving 22 female BME artists, a diverse group who aren't always afforded the attention they deserve, a space to express themselves.
Cofounders Jess Nash, an illustrator and workshop facilitator, and illustrator Erin Aniker told Refinery29 that following the success of their first exhibition in Shoreditch last summer, a member of staff at the London School of Economics suggested they curate a second exhibition, this time about women's suffrage. "It's been really interesting to see how the artists have all responded to the brief – the term 'the new suffragettes' – and also to explore what intersectional feminism and women's activism and suffrage looks like today," Aniker told us. "It felt important to have a real mix of BME women artists, to represent on a small scale the diverse female society and world we live in today."
The exhibition will take place from 14th–18th March 2018 at the LSE Library, 10 Portugal Street, London, WC2A 2HD. Find out more about Nash and Aniker's artist-led, artist-run platform at we-are-here.co.uk, @WeAreHereUK and #WeAreHereUK.
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