Studio Orta

Procession Banners will be touring from the Ikon Gallery to De La Warr Pavilion for a major group exhibition exploring the history of resistance and alternative forms of living from the perspective of gender: Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance, Act 2, from 9 February to 27 May, 2019.

This exhibition explores the many forms resistance can take: from intimate acts to large-scale uprisings, from the late 19th century to the present and beyond. Grounded in intersectional and queer feminist perspectives, it takes place within a global context, referring to recent women-led uprisings and demonstrations, as well as historic moments, including the centenary anniversary of the UK women’s right to vote. The award-winning* "Procession Banners" Lucy Orta created together with women from HMP Downview, commissioned by Historic England to commemorate the suffragettes imprisoned in Holloway prison, bring the voices of female prisoners into the debate.

In January 2018, Lucy Orta began collaborating with a group of female residents as part of London College of Fashion’s Better Lives outreach community work. She collected the women’s testimonies and ran workshops with the help of LCF student volunteers to design and create banners that brilliantly express what it means to be a woman today. The banners were paraded in the suffragette centenary Procession in London (10 June 2018), with the participation of over 30,000 women. Watch the video here.

*Participants each received a Gold Koestler Award, August 2018.