The Women’s Museum in Barking and Dagenham will reopen its doors on Thursday 12 March, with the launch of Materiality of Memory. The exhibition showcases two new artist commissions with Abel Holsborough’s Tracing Posterity and Ruth Ewan’s Always Something There to Remind Me.
Always Something There to Remind Me by Ruth Ewan is a major archival and participatory project responding to women’s histories of organising and protest, inspired by the Ford Factory Sewing Machinists’ Strikes of 1968 and 1984–85. The exhibition will include materials such as artifacts from the strikes which are inspired by Ruth’s permanent public art project, The Dagenham Agates, for Dagenham Green, curated and produced by leading public art organisation, UP Projects and commissioned by Hill / Peabody which will be unveiled later in the year.
Tracing Posterity by Abel Holsborough is an installation and film work that explores ideas of collective memory and the shaping of cultural identity. This film celebrates a long history of connecting communities through the art of cinema. Holsborough combines archival film footage from the Dagenham Co-operative Film Society, with footage captured on super eight in Barking to create a new portrait of residents. Developed between London Borough of Barking & Dagenham Archive Service, the Women’s Museum, and Film London through Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network (FLAMIN) with the support of Arts Council England, and London’s Screen Archives (LSA).
The commissions centre lived experiences of people on the margins, particularly those who may be historically excluded from official archives, and explores how memory is carried through objects, bodies, and places. It invites audiences to reconsider how cultural memory is formed, and who gets to shape it. In this way, the museum continues to champion the voices of women while reaffirming the borough’s growing reputation as one of London’s cultural hotspots.
The new exhibition signals a confident move for culture in Barking and Dagenham, as artists, audiences and ideas continue to move east - challenging traditional notions of where art belongs in London, and who it is for. Rooted in the stories of women and those historically marginalised, the museum’s work places creativity firmly at the edges of the capital, where new perspectives and cultural energy are thriving.
Councillor Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader of Barking and Dagenham, said: “The reopening of the Women’s Museum is a powerful reminder of Barking and Dagenham’s role as a place where history, culture, creativity and community come together. As art continues to move east, our borough is leading the way - supporting bold artistic voices, celebrating women’s histories, and ensuring that culture on the margins of London is visible, valued and thriving.”
Details of the related programme will be released in the coming months. For more information, please see www.womensmuseum.org.uk