The various working role women took over while men went away to fight in WW1 and WW2 is being explored by a couple of former ‘Artists in Residence’ at the Museum of Bath at Work.
Maureen Hosier and Jean Farrell write:
“We were artists in residence, during the winter months, at The Museum of Bath at Work, and in our research discovered how much women contributed at all levels, in the armed forces and industry. Women moved into areas that were previously exclusively male, particularly in steel working and munitions.
Art graduates in Fine Art and Fashion & Textiles, we met at Bath College in the Sculpture Department looking at the processes involved in creating metal sculptures. We both became fascinated with steel and iron, exploring these materials in our own unique way. Both of us were aware that our practice had changed and developed over the years becoming more three-dimensional, growing organically, and mirroring our own journey from just out of college, to the more mature years of the present.
We also worked in collaboration with the museum and Bath filmmaker Joe Short, whose film, specially produced for the exhibition, shows women working in munition factories interspersed with our work and working methods. We have the good fortune to be able to use metal creatively.
The Museum of Bath at Work is hosting our exhibition of contemporary sculpture set all around the museum against the engineering exhibits and industrial displays.
Our thanks go to the director of The Museum of Bath at Work, Stuart Burroughs, and his volunteers for their encouragement and support.”
The exhibition is on until 12th June 2022.
Entry to the museum is £10. (Special price of £5 with a flier which can be picked up at various locations around Bath including the lobby of the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath Scientific & Literary Institute, Minerva Art Shop and Mr B’s Emporium ).
