Heritage Pathway: Curating Medieval and Early Modern Women’s Lives Today
This session will explore what it means to interpret medieval and early modern women’s lives for audiences today.
Bringing together three speakers who in the past year have curated exhibitions focusing on women’s histories through library collections – from a blockbuster exhibition at the British Library to a more intimate visitor experience at Lambeth Palace Library and a digital offering focusing on the prolific outputs of a single woman – this session will delve into the decision-making processes informing these exhibitions, as well as their reception, afterlives, and legacy.
During the session we will consider:
- How are exhibition topics decided?
- Whose lives are prioritised, and how can silences in historical source material be navigated?
- What are the challenges of curating pre-modern (women)’s lives for twenty-first century audiences
- (How) can multi-sensory and digital approaches enhance engagement?
- What role can temporary interventions play in creating longer-term and more inclusive legacies?
Speakers
- Dr Eleanor Jackson, Curator of Fine Art, York Art Gallery (formerly Curator of Illuminated Manuscripts at the British Library and Lead Curator of the 2024-5 ‘Medieval Women: in their Own Words’ Exhibition)
- Anna Nadine-Pike: PhD Candidate, University of Kent and Guest Curator of ‘Rewriting the Script: The Works and Words of Esther Inglis’ with the University of Edinburgh
- Dr Julia King: Rare Books Librarian, Lambeth Palace Library. Curator of 'Her Booke': Early Modern Women and their Books in Lambeth Palace Library'
