A new exhibition opening at Manchester Art Gallery presents Stories of Women, Work and Uncertain Futures, the third and concluding exhibition of Uncertain Futures, an immense collaborative work combining art, research and activism that spans five years.
Created by women from Manchester’s diverse communities with the US artist Suzanne Lacy, a pioneer of social practice art and community organising, it aims to create civic change and affect social policy. Initiated in 2019, the project has explored intersectional issues on paid and unpaid work through the lens of women over 50, focusing on gender, age, race, disability and class.
A new three channel film highlights the multiple inequalities around work, faced by women later in life, through excerpts from 100 interviews undertaken in 2021. Narrated within a theatrical space by a core group of project leaders, layered voices and accounts verify the universality of these experiences.
As with Lacy’s other work, this film distinctively combines aesthetics with social and political concerns. The film will be shown alongside the project manifesto, a photograph of the 100 women interviewed, and a documentary which outlines the research findings.
Developed with academics from the University of Manchester: School of Social Sciences, and Manchester Metropolitan University: Faculty of Health and Education, Uncertain Futures is an art and research project where 14 women, all activists and leaders in their communities, constituted an Advisory Group, which met regularly over three years and participated in all decisions, research analysis and public events. Working collectively to advocate for policy change, they have identified and made public the many intersectional issues confronting older women and work.
Stories of Women, Work and Uncertain Futures
Manchester Art Gallery
Opens 8 March 2024
