A new museum dedicated to women’s history and experience has opened in Barking in east London.

The Women’s Museum launches with an inaugural exhibition An Idea of a Life, which celebrates the stories of the women-led community who lived in Barking Abbey from c.666AD through to the early 16th Century. The museum is located next to the old abbey site on Abbey Green, Barking.

Informed by archaeological finds, records and ongoing research led by the borough’s Archives and Local Study Centre, An Idea of a Life seeks to connect the voices of the abbesses and nuns who shaped daily life at Barking Abbey with the women of the borough today.

Councillor Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, said:  “Barking and Dagenham’s history is full of strong and determined women; from the women of Barking Abbey, Victorian prison reformer Elizabeth Fry and the oldest surviving suffragette Annie Clara Huggett, to the 1968 strike by women machinists at Ford’s which led to the passing of the equal pay act in 1970.

“The Women’s Museum is a space where local people can come together and connect, while celebrating the stories and experiences of women and girls in Barking and Dagenham and beyond.”

Curated by Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf with support from Valence House Museum & Archives, the exhibition includes newly commissioned works by artists Lesley Asare, Sarina Mantle and Meera Shakti Osborne, as well as replicas of artefacts found at the Abbey. The curator and artists each have a personal connection to the local area, and this can be seen in the works that will change and grow across spring, summer, autumn and Winter.  

Throughout the duration of the evolving exhibition, visitors can also take part in communal activities, led by the borough’s New Town Culture curatorial team, which reflect the experiences of daily life in Barking Abbey such as healing, choral, activist and devotional traditions. 

Funding for the related research project ‘A Magnifying Glass on Barking Abbey’s Archaeology’ has been provided through National Lottery Heritage Fund with the aim of deepening our understanding of Barking Abbey via a thorough analysis of the archaeology that has been uncovered from the site. The exhibition’s public programme is supported through a project grant from Arts Council England. 

For more information, visit https://www.newtownculture.org/womens-museum/