An art exhibition in Stalybridge shares women's lived experiences of access to reproductive healthcare over the ages.
Since 2020, over 100 women from across Tameside, Oldham and Rochdale have attended creative workshops with Cabasa CIC. The resulting body of work, which reflects on experiences including pregnancy, endometriosis and menopause, can be seen in a free weekend long show at Stalybridge Civic Hall called Unheard Stories.
Over 30 artworks on display include body art portraits, textiles, sculpture, audio stories, poetry and film. Every artwork has been created by a group of women, aged 18-80, working together with local visual artists.
At the centre of the exhibition is a sculpture called The Living Dress. Standing almost 5m tall, a statuesque "mother earth" is sculpted out of aluminium and steel by artist Iola Weir. She wears a show-stopping gown in shades of red, orange and pink, which has been hand dyed from traditional colourant madder, made from a plant root. Women from Seriously Crafty, Women’s Welfare, and Soul Sisters all contributed to the dress, which was first seen at the Rochdale Borough Festival of Ideas in March 2024.
Other bodies of work on display include the Metamorphosis project, which explored body painting during pregnancy and Endomorphosis, which shared the stories of two groups of women living with endometriosis. The first Endomorphosis photography collection was originally shown at Gallery Oldham in March 2023. A second set of images is on public display for the first time.
Still She Rises is an outdoor mural that explores women's access to reproductive healthcare stories. Exhibition visitors can watch a video that follows artists Rhian Kempadoo-Millar, Lizzie Rigby and Emily Wood, as they bring it to life on the side of the Smith Street Car Park during the Common Walls Festival in Rochdale in 2025.
The show is accompanied by a soundtrack of anonymous first-person stories about women's access to reproductive healthcare.
Funders for the various projects that make up the exhibition include National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England and Postcode Neighbourhood Trust.
Emily Wood, artistic director, Cabasa CIC, which is based at The Vale arts centre in Mossley, said: "Over the last six years we have worked with over 100 amazing women on cross-generational creative projects.
"We now invite you to hear their stories and celebrate the people who have shaped this revealing and emotive body of work.
Unheard Stories is at Stalybridge Civic Hall, Trinity St, Stalybridge SK15 2BN on Friday 3 July (10-5pm) and Saturday 4 July (11-4pm). Entry is free
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