Women’s History Unwrapped with the Travelling Gallery Project

In August 2017, Travelling Gallery and Glasgow Women’s Library launched a new exhibition by artist Lauren Printy Currie.

Travelling Gallery is a contemporary art space inside a bus, touring exhibitions around Scotland. Lauren Printy Currie works in sculpture, writing and installation, creating assemblages that hybridise the material and psychological qualities of objects.

Inspired by the GWL archive and offering a new take on the recording of women’s lives in Scotland, Lauren’s exhibition and Glasgow Women’s Library’s ‘Women’s History Unwrapped’ workshops offered a fresh and insightful look into women’s herstories.

The exhibition followed a residency at Glasgow Women’s Library, where the archive and collection served as a repository from which Lauren drew material and inspiration.

The partnership between GWL and Travelling Gallery:

  • Took women’s history and heritage, the GWL archive and the undiscovered heritage of women to a wider, more diverse audience around Scotland.
  • Introduced new audiences to GWL.
  • Made contemporary women’s art and women’s heritage more visible, accessible and relevant.
  • Promoted new discussion of female role models, women’s history and heritage and how it relates to women’s lives today in new communities.
  • Developed new accessible learning and archive resources, including a brand new mini mobile archive.
  • Inspired, supported and trained local women to develop their own projects on women’s heritage.

The exhibition launched at GWL in Glasgow on 17th August 2017, touring the length and breadth of Scotland until 6th December 2017. Over 60 locations were visited, including Orkney, Inverness, Nairn, Fort William, Wigtown, Dumfries Dundee, Kilmarnock, Kinghorn and Edinburgh.

The exhibition reached over 5,000 people during its tour, including 22 more in-depth workshops facilitated by GWL around Scotland. The workshops included lively discussion of the exhibition, an introduction to archives and women’s heritage, a chance to get hands-on with the GWL mini mobile archive, and sharing and recording of women’s own stories of their history and heritage.

GWL was pleased to offer this exhibition and tour in partnership with the Travelling Gallery and with support from Outset Scotland and the Heritage Lottery Fund.