NEW EXHIBITION SET TO OPEN AT MINING ART GALLERY Monday, 1 October 2018
Breaking Ground – Women of the Northern Coalfields will launch at the Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland on Saturday, 13 October.
The temporary exhibition showcases the role women played in the regional coal mining communities of the 1800s, which has been largely overlooked.
Artworks, archive images and personal histories will highlight the tenacious spirit of these women, whether working at the colliery as Pit Brow Lasses or taking on multiple jobs to keep a roof over their family’s heads.
Local stories will feature in the exhibition alongside artworks by artists such as Tom McGuinness, David Venables and Archie Rhys Griffiths.
Angela Thomas, Curator of the Mining Art Gallery, The Auckland Project, said: “With 2018 marking 100 years since some women in the UK were granted the right to vote, this is the perfect time to shine a light on the significant but often overlooked role of women in the northern coalfields.
“Their strength and fortitude was constantly put to the test, whether they were fighting to keep their jobs or determinedly keeping the home fires burning.”
The exhibition will run at Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland until Sunday, 24 March 2019.
Image: Archie Rhys Griffiths, On the Coal Tips
© Estate of Archie Rhys Griffiths
Presented at Mining Art Gallery, The Auckland Project