Looks like some really interesting exhibitions coming up:
An Idea of a Life is the first exhibition at the Women’s Museum Barking. It responds to everyday histories of the women-led community who lived in Barking Abbey from c.666AD through to the early 16th Century. This exhibition tells stories that are both imagined and informed by archaeological finds, records and ongoing research emerging from the site of the former Abbey.
Curated by Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf with support from Valence House Museum and Barking and Dagenham Archives and Local Studies Service, the exhibition holds newly commissioned artworks by Lesley Asare, Sarina Mantle and Meera Shakti Osborne alongside replicas of artefacts found during archeological excavations of the Abbey. The curator and artists each have a personal connection to the local area and this is seen in the works which are aligned to the solar equinox and seasons so change and grow across the upcoming spring, summer, autumn and winter.
Sarina Mantle Sacred Cycles of the Divine Feminine
Landscapes of Mother Earth & the divine feminine as told through four applique tapestries
Sacred Cycles of the Divine Feminine is a series of appliqué tapestries by local artist Sarina Mantle. Appliqué, which is the application through sticking or stitching of fabric to create a larger work. These tapestries tell the stories of mystical landscapes throughout Barking’s histories interwoven with personifications of mother earth and the cycles of her life shown as shifting seasons.
Lesley Asare Ritual RecipesRitual Recipes celebrates wild medicinal plants and explores how they can be playfully woven into each of our daily rituals.
Through a series of seasonal tinctures and recipes informed by local plants, archival research, historically informed imaginings alongside her Ghanaian heritage, Lesley Asare invites visitors to reconnect to the earth and the wonder of nature as she journeys through the seasons with plants. Inspired by the cyclical nature of life and the wisdom that each season offers, medicines will be displayed and community events will be held at the Women’s Museum to explore the daily rituals of Eating, Drinking, Adorning, and Bathing throughout 2024.