Bags Of Attitude Exhibition

GETTING ready to go out to the Bags of Attitude exhibition this morning, I spotted a Facebook ‘friend’ casually criticising the orientation and body size of feminists.

Following a swift report, block, delete (if only real life were that simple) I stuffed my bag with the essentials and went on my merry way. Just in case the relevance of this exhibition was in question, the easygoing anti-feminist opinion I’d just seen on my ‘wall’ put that to rest.

The importance of the issues it explores is such that everyone should see it.

Bags of Attitude is a commission launched by Oxfam and The Pankhurst Centre in Manchester running at Piccadilly Place until Tuesday 28 February. It follows on from a course of creative workshops the centre ran over summer 2011 where women were invited to creatively examine the way that spending cuts have affected their lives. Led by artist Charlotte Newsom, they decided to artistically express their difficulties, and the effects these have on them as people, by creating handbags.

Owned almost exclusively by women (and most own a fair few) a handbag is both an object of luxury and necessity. It is mainly women who need to carry ‘personal’ items as well as items associated with childcare. It is also a status item or exactly the opposite. It therefore seemed the perfect symbol through which the women could express themselves.

Bags Of Attitude

Under the guiding hand of Newson a beautiful, unusual and at times very forward-looking collection of handbags was created (while I was there, people were wanting to purchase the bags). But the creation of the bags was only the starting point. Once made, each individual bag was filled with things its creator felt represented the way the spending cuts had affected their lives and them as human being.  

Collated for the exhibition, they are displayed alongside laminated snippets of statistical information that detail the gender division of the cuts and surrounded by audio work by musician Claire Mooney. Mooney also edited the women’s personal accounts, which you can listen to on earphones while you rummage through their bags.

And that is exactly what you’re encouraged to do. As it says on Charlotte Newson’s Facebook page, you’re invited to ‘break the taboo and look inside women’s handbags to hear their real story’. The concept, experience and outcome of this is effective and beautifully incongruous.  

Bearing in mind the financial backdrop the project is based on, the result couldn’t be more aesthetically exciting. From a design point of view alone they are a delight (yes, I wanted several, they are right up my trash-fash alley). They are also extremely poetic. One bag resembles a battered old child’s game die with a note that reads ‘Access to mental health services is pot luck’ hence the die’s battered appearance. Another is a beautifully thick, fluffy heart, inside which is another heart, inside which are the hopes and dreams of the maker. Some are filled with the female paraphernalia of every day life – a baby spoon, medication, sanitary towels and shopping receipts full of budget items.

As you peer into them, you feel you’re peering into the souls of the women. The experience is both a privilege, and at times, quite a disturbing experience. I listened to a woman explain how isolated she felt, having left work as a trained teacher to raise her children, now left under-confident, inexperienced and pretty much unemployable. This isn’t ‘easy listening’.

There are numerous resources for you to take on your way out which further highlight the gender impact of the cuts. The whole exhibition beautifully represents, in the most personal of ways, how this affects the lives of women.

The artist intends to tour the exhibition, ending at Westminster. The importance of the issues it explores is such that everyone should see it. This isn’t just about the issues women face, it’s about how these affect everyone in society. It is also about the ‘Bags of Attitude’ that the women themselves have. Despite the cuts and barriers, these women are full of a forward-thinking creativity that can only benefit society, if only they get the chance to use it.

For more information on the Bags of Attitude exhibition please click here.

More of Anne Louise Kershaw's musings can be found on her blog: www.annelouisekershaw365.com

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