Katherine Hattam | Harriet Morgan | Fayen d’Evie
In the late 1960s, consciousness-raising groups sprung up, first in New York, then quickly spreading across the United States and beyond. In apartments and suburban living rooms, women met to discuss their personal experiences and, through hearing and speaking out individual stories of conflict and oppression, came to recognise systemic patterns. Some women found the discussions trivial, but for many, participation proved radicalising. For a generation of women across Melbourne, the consciousness-raising movement provoked a shift in perception; what had seemed merely personal became fundamentallypolitical.
Through a participatory, performative installation, Katherine Hattam, Harriet Morgan and Fayen d’Evie will curate a programme of events that mobilise a contemporary audience to revisit methods, texts and
philosophies of the consciousness-raising groups, including relevant historical artist contributions. Featuring artworks from an intergenerational group of female artists, the exhibition space will be set as a temporary living room that will provide a site for formal group activities and also personal-political conversation in-between events.
Here are some of the scheduled ‘Re-raising Consciousness’ events; feel free to participate and to inform others of the events also.
Wednesday 12/11 @ 6pm (Opening): Readings by Harriet Morgan and Aurelia Guo.
Thursday 13/11 @ 2pm: A re-run of a consciousness-raising group using archived material from the 1960s and 70s. This is an open discussion and an experimental enactment.
Saturday 15/11 @ 2pm: A conversation on ‘Counting Women’. This is about the inequality of female representation within visual art. A presentation from the CoUNtess will catalyse this discussion.
Thursday 20/11@ 2pm: Bookgroup on ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ (1899) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This will be a conversation led by Katherine Hattam.
Saturday 22/11 @ 12pm: Casual offsite picnic playgroup at Carlton Gardens. Parenting artists welcome, and non-parents who like entertaining unruly kids. BYO everything.
Saturday 22/11 @ 2pm: A conversation on ‘Parenting in the Art World’. This is an informal conversation about the early days of childcare, led by publisher Hillary McPhee and early feminist acitvist Winsom McCaughey. This will also extend to current-day parenting within the artworld.
Thursday 27/11 @ 6pm: Screening of ‘The All-Around Reduced Personality’ by Helke Sander, presented by Nic Tammens, venue TBC
Saturday 29/11 @ 1pm: Women in/Not in Music and closing performance by Quims of Paradise. This event will be in co-collaboration with LISTEN in which people will be able to discuss reasons for playing/not playing an instrument for the first time. Discussion will be led by Harriet Morgan with words from Lisa Radford and others to be confirmed. This event will be recorded and archived.
Please refer to our Facebook page for readings, information and event listings.