a l t e r n a t i v e a r t s

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH in East London

1-31 March 2020

Supported by Tower Hamlets Council and Alternative arts

Contemporary women artists, activists, writers and performers, women’s groups and community organisations present a diverse programme of events and exhibitions looking at the past, present and

future in galleries, venues, libraries and institutions across East London. 2020 Vision is our theme.

ARCOLA THEATRE

24 Ashwin Street E8 3DL Dalston Junction & Dalston Kingsland overground

www.arcolatheatre.com 020 7503 1646

SHE ALSO WROTE PLAYS: Putting Women Centrestage

Sunday 29 March 3.30pm £15/£12 concs

Presented by Unfinished Histories with Susan Croft, Katherine O’Reilly, Brig Bennet, Nora Connolly,

Lucie Regan.

Women Playwrights go back to at least the 10th Century but have often struggled to be produced and accepted. The feminist theatre companies that emerged in the 1970s began to challenge this, aiming to put women’s experience centre stage and empower women to make their voices heard. This event celebrates the ground-breaking work of that era through an illustrated talk and staged readings of extracts from key plays including Jane Arden’s Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven, Monstrous Regiment’s Scum: Death, Destruction and Dirty Laundry and Theatre of Black Women’s Pyeyucca. It marks the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Liberation Movement in Britain and the key Ruskin College conference of 1970 which launched it.

ARTSADMIN

Toynbee Studios, 28 Commercial Street E1 6AB Aldgate East tube

www.artsadmin.co.uk 020 7247 5102

STEAKHOUSE LIVE – Slow Sunday

Sunday 1 March 1pm-9pm £18/£20/£30

For one day only Steakhouse Live takes over Toynbee Studios with a bold programme of live performances ranging in duration from 10mins to 6 hours.

RADAR – Budget Lines

Wednesday 25 March 2.30pm-6pm FREE

A workshop looking at producing art through a financial lens, focusing on budget brainstorming, managing budgets, and creating a budget that is as flexible as the project it outlines.

BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE

230 Bishopsgate EC2M 4QH Liverpool Street tube/rail

www.bishopsgate.org.uk 020 7392 9200

THE INDIAN SUFFRAGETTES

Saturday 14 March 11am-1pm £22/£16 concs

Presented by Julie Begum. Although popular belief is that only white women were involved in the cause for women’s suffrage in Britain, there were a number of Indian suffragettes and suffragists who took part. Hear stories of trail blazing figures such as Princess Sophia Duleep Singh, daughter of the last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire and goddaughter of Queen Victoria, who helped lead marches in order to bring much needed attention to the movement.

IN THE RESISTANCE

Friday 20 March 7pm-10pm £5

A woman’s place is in the resistance. Join our rebellion celebration of Women’s History Month and explore the array of protest-related pamphlets and posters in the Institute’s archives with pop-up talks from key activists looking to the future of women’s rights including Manuela Campbell / The Fawcett Society, Hannah Swirsky / Centenary Action Group, Marchu Girma / Women for Refugee Women, and Charlotte Cranidge / artist, and then create your own protest paraphernalia.

ARCHIVE ALIVE – THE DAWSON FAMILY

Wednesday 25 March 7pm-9pm £16

Come to the launch of a new life drawing collaboration with Art Model Collective. Costumed life models will bring characters from our archive to life, posing and reading from texts in the collections, and enjoy exploring a pop-up archive display and bar. For this session we will be drawing the Dawson Family – educators, feminists and suffragists.

CAFÉ OTO

18-22 Ashwin Street, E8 3DL Dalston Junction & Dalston Kingsland overground.

www.cafeoto.co.uk

PIANO,NOISE,MUSIC,TOYS

Saturday 7 March Doors 6.30pm Show 8.30pm £12

Najma Akhtar, Tania Caroline Chen, Stewart Lee & Steve Beresford, Mark Sanders & John Butcher, Angharad Davies & Max Eastley. DJ Howard Williams.

An interactive set based on the spirituality of the voice.

DALSTON CLR JAMES LIBRARY

Dalston Square, Dalston Lane E8 3BQ Dalston Junction overground

www.hackney.gov.uk 020 8356 6292

HACKNEY FILM CLUB

THE PIANO (dir: Jane Campion, 1993, 121mins, cert 15)

Saturday 7 March 2pm FREE (No booking necessary)

Holly Hunter and Harvey Keitel star in Jane Campion’s beautifully shot and eerily toned period drama

about a mute pianist sent from Scotland to New Zealand for an arranged marriage. A film about oppression, love and the creative spirit. In 2019 BBC Culture voted The Piano the greatest ever female directed film.

MADE IN DAGENHAM (dir: Nigel Cole, 2010, 110 mins, cert 15)

Saturday 21 March 2pm FREE (No booking necessary)

Set in Ford’s Dagenham plant at the end of the 60s, Jaime Winstone, Rosamund Pike, Sally Hawkins and Miranda Richardson lead a cast of British screen favourites in this lively comedy-drama about the striking female factory workers who helped pave the way for the Equal Pay Act of 1970.

EAST END WI

St Margaret’s House, 21 Old Ford Road E2 9Pl Bethnal Green tube

www.eastendwi.blogspot.com

TALK by RACHEL CROSSLEY Director of the East End Women’s Museum

Thursday 19 March 7pm for 7.30pm start. FREE to members of EEWI and visitors are asked for a £5 donation. Includes refreshments.

The East End Women’s Museum is due to open in 2021. Rachel Crossley will give an outline of the history of the museum from its unique beginnings through to future ambitions, as well as offering an opportunity for us to give feedback on the emerging plans for the museum’s design.

EAST END WOMEN’S MUSEUM

www.eastendwomensmuseum.org

Opening in 2021 we aim to create a new, permanent home for the country’s first dedicated women’s museum. We currently record, research, share and celebrate the extraordinary stories of East London women. We challenge gender stereotypes, offer new role models, spotlight lives otherwise unknown, amplify diverse voices and empower people to tell their own stories and make positive change inspired by women who have gone before. We do this through exhibitions, events, projects, and sharing stories online. Our building will open in Barking Town Centre in late 2021.

THE WOMEN’S WALK

This year we have created a new self-guided trail around East London for you to discover the ‘brilliant women of Whitechapel, Bow and Barking’, taking in the remarkable stories of activist Mala Sen, dancer Josie Woods, ‘Matchgirl’ Sarah Chapman, the East London Federation of Suffragettes, and more. It ends at the site of the new museum and the trail can be downloaded at www.eastendwomensmuseum.org.heritagetrail or paper copies are available on request.

FOUR CORNERS

121 Roman Road, E2 0QN Bethnal Green tube

www.fourcornersfilm.co.uk 020 8981 6111

ANOTHER EYE: Women Refugee Photographers in Britain After 1933

28 February – 2 May Tues-Sat 11am-6pm FREE

This exhibition brings together Dorothy Bohm, Gerti Deutsch, Lotte Meitner-Graf, Elizabeth Chat, Edith Tudor Hart, Laelia Goehr, alongside lesser known women photographers who came to Britain as refugees in the 1930s, with portraiture, photo-slides and East End street photography. The show reflects these artists representations of ‘Britishness’, considering how their experience as outsiders shaped their images. The exhibition will be accompanied by a Public Talks Programme in collaboration with Fast-Forward Women in Photography. See website for further details.

MARY ON THE GREEN

www.maryonthegreen.org

A permanent statue commemorating the ‘foremother of feminism’ Mary Wollstonecraft is to be erected on Newington Green where she lived. Over 4,000 people have signed a petition in support of the statue designed by acclaimed artist Maggie Hambling.

WOLLSTONECRAFT WALKS APP

1-31 March

Follow in Mary Wollstonecraft’s footsteps. Fragments & Monuments Performance and Film Company and Scary Little Girls Performance Hub present a new app to join Wollstonecraft Walks. Check out the podcast series, read the heritage research, get to know the artists backstage and learn about Wollstonecraft’s legacy. Spread the word www.wollstonecraftwalks.netlify.com

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S WEEK in Tower Hamlets

7-14 March 2020

Women’s groups and community organisations across the borough will be celebrating International Women’s Day with a week long programme of events and activities following this year’s theme ‘WOMEN & POWER’.

Groups and organisations involved include:- Poplar Union, Muslim Women’s Collective, Udichi Shilpi Ghosti, Saudha Society and Nari Chetona, Black Women’s Health & Family Support, Leaders in Community, Mohila Ongon Association, St Hilda’s East Boundary Women’s Centre, Swadhinata Trust, Trapped in Zone One, Harry Gosling Primary School and Shapla and St Paul’s Primary Schools, Neighbours in Poplar, Limehouse Project, St Peters Community Wellbeing Project, Account 3, Friends of Island History Trust, Women’s Environmental Network, Women’s Inclusive Team, Tower Hamlets Sports Development, Tower Hamlets Cycling Club. For more info contact info@alternativearts.co.uk

4COSE

7 Vyner Street E2 9DG Bethnal Green tube

Instagram 4Cose 07809422880

WITH EACH OTHER

1-31 March Thurs-Sat 10am-6pm FREE

Majella Dowdican – work in progress

Janet Hodgson – film about her private daily encounters with Elizabeth Jane Howard.

Installation created as a continued working collaboration between Charlotte Cullinan, Jeanine Richards and Peter Fillingham.

Thursday 26 March

Dinner / Soiree to celebrate the birthday of Elizabeth Jane Howard.

For further information contact 4cose.ltd@gmail.com

HACKNEY MUSEUM

1 Reading Lane E8 1GQ Hackney Central overground

www.hackney.go.uk 020 8356 2509

LOST HISTORIES OF SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN

Presented by SASS (South Asian Sisters Speak), Hackney Museum and East End Women’s Museum

Saturday 7 March FREE

11am-12.30pm: Ayahs in London

SASS present a panel of speakers including Rozina Visram and Dr Florian Stadtler exploring the role of Ayahs in London during the 20th century and discussing why South Asian histories are often left untold in the UK.

1pm-2pm: The Yoniverse Poetry Workshop

Exploring through poetry the personal hidden histories of South Asian women. Bring pen and paper and all your most powerful stories.

3pm-4.30pm Yoniverse poetry Performance and Open Mic.

An afternoon of poetry to explore the histories of Ayahs with the Yoniverse Poets and an open mic inviting you to share your stories.

MUSEUM OF LONDON DOCKLANDS

No 1 Warehouse, West India Quay E14 4AL West India Quay & Westferry DLR, Canary Wharf tube

www.museumoflondon.org/docklands 020 7001 9844

FAMILY FESTIVAL

Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 March 12noon-4pm FREE

An equal world is an enabled world.

Join us for an exciting weekend developed by young people from the Osmani Trust in Whitechapel. Celebrate International Women’s Day while exploring the experiences of British Bangladeshi women and children in East London. This lively and thought provoking festival will be full of creative activities for all ages. Free talks and tours will celebrate women through history.

LONDON ON WHEELS – EAST END WOMEN

Sunday 15 March 1.30pm-5pm Guided tour starts and ends at the Museum. 16+ £30/ Friends

& concs £25

Celebrate Women’s History Month and join Rachel Kolsky, author of ‘Women’s London’, aboard a vintage Routemaster as we explore the extraordinary lives of East End women. Learn about their legacy from Matchgirls to Suffragettes, social workers to nurses and royal rebels, to artists and authors, East London has them all. Includes an exclusive tour of Kingsley Hall and complimentary refreshments.

COMMON SALT

Wednesday 18 March 3.15pm-5.30pm & 6.30pm-8.45pm Age 16+ Book in advance £18/ Friends

& Students £15

Join artists Shelia Ghelani and Sue Palmer for a round table show and tell performance of their ground-breaking new show Common Salt. Challenging our collective amnesia around colonial history, the show will uncover the story of the East India Company exploring trade, borders and enclosures both at home and in India. Travel with our shared past through a ‘home museum’ of objects and stories, accompanied by the music of an original shruti box. Followed by a tour of the Museum galleries.

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH is co-ordinated by Alternative Arts and supported by Tower Hamlets Council.

www.alternativearts.co.uk info@alternativearts.co.uk

FEMINIST LIBRARY

Sojourner Truth Centre, 161 Sumner Road SE15 6JL Peckham Rye / Queens Road overground

www.feministlibrary.co.uk 020 7261 0879

HER STORIES BOOK CLUB

Wednesday 4 March 7pm English Language Book Club

Wednesday 11 March 7pm Polish Book Club

Wednesday 25 March 7pm Spanish Language Book Club

For more information contact HerStoriesBookClub@gmail.com

FEMINIST LIBRARY AGM and Birthday Party

Saturday 14 March AGM 5pm followed by party. Come and celebrate our 45th Birthday in style and see our new space. For more details of our guests and entertainment see our website.

FEMINIST LIBRARY RUNNING CLUB

Monday 16 March 6pm

Lets get together and go running! This club is for any ability with a real focus on beginners.

Email emma@feministlibary.co.uk

FEMINIST VOICES IN TECHNOLOGY workshop

Saturday 21 March FREE for more information email magda@feministlibrary.co.uk

HOWL – Reclaiming 50 Years of Women’s Liberation

Tuesday 24 March 7pm

Did you know that the very first Women’s Liberation group in Britain started in Peckham? Have you ever wondered how we organised ourselves before the internet? What was it like to be the only woman working on a building site or in a motor mechanics workshop? Come and explore these and other fascinating bits of history with HOWL – a group of women working together to gather the History of Women’s Liberation to make sure that our generation doesn’t get hidden from history again!

BLOW THE FUSE

St Mary’s Old Church, Stoke Newington Church Street N16 9ES Stoke Newington Stn

www.blowthefuse.com 07904069509

CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY WITH MARTHA & EVE

Saturday 7 & Sunday 8 March Doors 7.30pm, Show 8pm £17 Booking essential www.wegottickets.com

These ‘Mediterranean Madams’ started out as the comedy/music duo ‘Donna & Kebab’ in the late 80s. Since 1995 they have concentrated on their music and songwriting partnership. On stage their personalities are irresistibly honest, raw, and humorous and their gigs always have an emphasis on communicating with the audience with their music and lyrics emanating from personal experience. Accompanied by the Deirdre Cartwright, Diane McLoughlin and Alison Rayner Trio – aka ‘The Dada Dandies’.

BRADY ARTS CENTRE

192-196 Hanbury Street E1 5HU Whitechapel/Aldgate East tube

www.towerhamletsarts.org.uk/arts 020 7364 7900

WE STAND TOGETHER – Women’s Photography of Women

2-28 March Mon-Thurs 9am-8pm, Fri 9am-6pm, Sat 10am-4pm FREE

Sarah Ainslie, Julie Cook, Lucinda Douglas-Menzies, Rachel Ferriman, Chris Kelly, Daniele Lamarche, Jenny Lewis, Marketa Luskacova, Patricia Niven, Moyra Peralta, Tamara Rabea Stoll, Hussina Raja, Paula Roush. Curated by Sarah Ainslie.

This group show of photographers brings together a collection of women’s photographs of women who have been living and working in the East End of London.

KINGS PLACE

90 York Way N1 9AG Kings cross tube

www.kingsplace.co.uk 020 7520 1440

THE BREAKUP MONOLOGUES

Friday 20 March 7.30pm £9.50

Comedian and author Rosie Wilby presents a live recording of two episodes of her acclaimed podcast as recommended by The Observer, Metro and Time Out. Rosie and a panel investigate the chemical and technological future of love through a queer feminist lens.

LADY LANE MARKET

Wentworth Street E1 7AL Aldgate East tube

www.ladylanemarket.co.uk 020 7364 2932

LADY LANE MARKET WOMEN TRADERS

6, 13, 20, 27 March 10am-3pm and every Friday throughout the year.

Lady Lane Market is London’s pioneering women-only market located in the historic Petticoat Lane Markets area. The market has been set up to help local women start their own business and become market traders. Selling unique and handmade crafts, clothing and gifts produced by local mothers, daughters, sisters and grandmothers.

LADY LANE MARKET – How To Start Your Own Business

Wednesday 25 March 11am-2pm FREE

Christian Street Community Hub, 30 Challoner Walk E1 1QN

Have you ever wanted to start your own business but don’t know where to begin? Come along and hear how to do this from women who have done just that. This event will showcase Lady Lane women market traders with motivational talks, social media tips and workshops on how to make products. There will also be a business support speaker, social media consultant and refreshments. towncentres@towerhamlets.gov.uk

APPLEBY GALLERY

Frances Bardsley Academy, Brentwood Road, Romford RM1 2RR Romford Stn

www.fbaok.co.uk 01708463866

MOTW/MOTIF – University of the Arts London

2-27 March 9am-3pm daily Booking essential

LCF invited 20 renowned and emerging artists to each create an image which was embroidered on to a handkerchief to mark Women’s Suffrage and the passing of the 1918 Representation of the People Act. The starting point for this was a handkerchief embroidered in 1912 by women suffragettes who were imprisoned at Holloway Prison. Most of the women who signed the handkerchief participated in demonstrations in March 1912 organised by the WSPU. They were denied the status of political prisoners and were force fed. The 20 handkerchiefs were created in collaboration with the specialist embroidery team at LCF. The artists include Mona Hatoum, Peter Kennard, Sarah Lucas, Helen Storey and Rachel Whiteread. A full list is on the website.

APPLES & SNAKES

Rich Mix, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch E1 6LA Box office 020 7613 7498

Shoreditch High Street overground www.apples&snakes.org

JAWDANCE

Wednesday 18 March 7pm £4 in advance/£6 on door

Join us for London’s biggest spoken word night. In 2020 we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of Jawdance and this programme for Women’s History Month features a headline set from Grenadian-British legend Malika Booker supported by Salma El Wardany. Hosted by the inimitable Yomi Sode. Plus the renowned open mic slot.

BARBICAN CENTRE

Silk Street EC2Y 8DS Barbican/Moorgate tube

www.barbican.org 020 7392 9200 / 0845 120 7550

Sat-Wed 11am-8pm, Thurs & Fri 11am-9pm

FEMINISTS LOOK AT MASCULINITY

Thursday 6 March – Art Gallery 6.30pm £15

Feminists of all genders and generations are invited to reflect on resistant representations of masculinity in a participatory event involving discussion and live writing.

TONI MORRISON: The Pieces I Am

Friday 6 March – Cinema £12

Documentary film with author Toni Morrison leading a group of her peers, critics and colleagues in an exploration of race, history, America and the human condition.

KELLY MORAN and MISSY MAZZOLI

Friday 6 March – Milton Court Concert Hall 7.30pm £20

Composer/multi-instrumentalist Kelly Moran and composer/pianist Missy Mazzoli collaborate in a concert that includes solo sets, a new collaborative piece and special guest violinist Etienne Abelin.

HER LENS, HIS STORY: Female Directors and Masculinities

Until 10 March – Cinemas 1&3 £12

Programme exploring complex and often provocative takes on men and masculinity by female directors.

ALISON BALSOM

Wednesday 18 March – Milton Court Concert Hall 7.30pm £15-£31

Acclaimed trumpeter Alison Balsom performs Miles Davis’ Sketches of Spain with the Guildhall Jazz Orchestra.

TOYHIN OJIH ODUTOLA: A Countervailing Theory

26 March – 26 July – The Curve FREE

Enter into Ojih Odutola’s first ever UK exhibition, an epic cycle of new work unravelling an imagined ancient myth, drawing on an eclectic range of references from history to popular culture.

ANNA FOX and KAREN KNORR in Conversation

Thursday 26 March – Frobisher Auditorium 7pm £10/£5 mems

Join photographers Anna Fox and Karen Knorr in a discussion exploring the aesthetic questions of socio-political issues brought to bear by two important series of work in the Masculinities : Liberation Through Photography Exhibition in the Barbican Art Gallery.

YUJA WANG IN RECITAL

Thursday 31 March – Barbican Hall 7.30pm £15-£66

A highly anticipated solo recital with an imaginative and eclectic programme of works from Scriabin, Bach, Berg and Brahms.

BREACH THEATRE It’s True, It’s True, It’s True

31 March – 9 April 7.45pm Barbican Theatre £18

Award winning dramatization of the 1612 rape trial of painter Artemisa Gentileschi by her tutor Agnostini Tassi interweaves jaw-dropping court transcripts with history, myth, contemporary insight and moments of satire to ask : how much has really changed?

ORLANDO Schaubuhne Berlin

Thurs 2 – Sun 5 April 7.45pm, 4pm only on Sun £16-£60 Age guidance 16+

Virginia Wolf’s ground-breaking novel about gender fluidity is given a fresh look by Katie Mitchell and Alice Birch as Orlando travels across 400 years. Performed in German with English subtitles. (contains sexual content, nudity, violence, and scenes that some audiences might find upsetting)

MASCULINITIES: Liberation Through Photography

Until 17 May – Art Gallery £15/£17

Explore how central photography and film have been to the way masculinities are imagined and understood in contemporary culture, includes the work of artists Anette Messenger, Marianne Wex and Lauren Anderson’s 1973 project documenting the men who cat-called her as she walked through New York’s Lower East Side.

EAST END PRINTS

234 Brick Lane, E2 7EB Shoreditch High St overground

www.eastendprints.co.uk 020 7241 1118 Open 10am-6pm daily

EAST END PRINTS 10th BIRTHDAY

Thursday 5 March 6pm-8pm FREE

Come and celebrate our 10th Birthday! We are having a party for the women that power our small company and for the artists that have made East End Prints what it is. Meet us at our shop for art print chat, drinks, nibbles and birthday cake. We will be welcoming in exciting work with a feminist-current from artists Caitlin Keegan and Karli Florence Fallon.

EASTSIDE EDUCATIONAL TRUST

Criterion Theatre, 218-223 Piccadilly W1V 9LB Piccadilly Circus tube

www.eastside.org.uk/i-know-i-wish-i-will 020 7033 2380

I KNOW I WISH I WILL from 11am on Monday 20 March until 12noon on Tuesday 21 March (World Poetry Day).

Tkts £6/£3.50 www.criterion-theatre.co.uk/iknowiwishiwill?eventid=5201

Be part of an incredible world-record-breaking spoken-word poetry marathon performed by the country’s finest young poets. Young artists, aged 5-25, selected from across the nation will come together to perform their own original spoken word poetry. This 25-hour event will be live streamed around the world to celebrate World Poetry Day like never before. The marathon will be divided into sequences of 75 minute sessions. You can buy tickets to one or multiple sessions and for an extra special night out we are offering an ‘all nighter’ ticket running from 12.30am to 7.45am with free tea and coffee available throughout.

THE CASS School of Art, Architecture & Design – LMU

Calcutta House, Old Castle Street E1 7NT Aldgate East tube

www.londonmet.ac.uk/events 020 7133 4200

HERSTORY (The Library is Open – Reading is Fundamental)

3-29 March Mon-Fri 8am-12midnight, Sat & Sun 11am-7pm FREE

Cass photographers showcase their work, reconsidering knowledge and experience of femininity

in a site-specific window installation that can be viewed directly from Goulston Street in the Lounge window of the Cass Library and from inside the Library. Curated by Heather McDonough and

Ania Dabrowska.

CHISENHALE ARTS PLACE

Chisenhale Studios, 64-84 Chisenhale Road E3 5QZ Bethnal Green/Mile End tube

www.chisenhale.co.uk 020 8981 1916

SALON PROTEST – Event & Exhibition

Preview Sunday 29 March 2pm-6pm

In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Salon for a Speculative Future is hosting a special event of film screenings, live performances and an exhibition of placards and banners. The performance programme will be posted on social media. www.instagram.com/salonforaspeculativefuture www.facebook.com/Salon-for-a-Speculative-Future-105664860902253

NUNNERY GALLERY

181 Bow Road E3 2SJ Bow Church DLR / Bow Rd tube

www.bowarts.org/nunnery 020 8980 7774

POWER OF PRINT – Talk

Thursday 5 March 7pm-9pm £5/£3

Talk by Jess Baines. As part of the Lighthouse and Lettering project, which explores the printing industry in East London, this talk looks at radical and community presses, many of which were more open to women working there than traditional printing firms. Jess Baines – Senior Lecturer at the London College of Communication – will explore the variety of these alternative printing initiatives between the early 1970s and 1990s, putting these often radical and social movements into a wider cultural and political context.

PARASOL UNIT – Foundation for Contemporary Art

14 Wharf Road N1 7RW Old St & Angel tube

www.parasol-unit.org 020 7490 7373

CHRISTINE REBET

Until 26 March Tues-Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 12noon-5pm FREE

The French artist Christine Rebet’s first UK solo exhibition comprising six hand-drawn animated films that address traumas of personal and collective histories, illusion and the destruction of our shared history and environment.

PIZZA EXPRESS

99 High Holborn WC1V 6LF Holborn tube

www.pizzaexpresslive.com www.najmaakhtar.com 020 7439 4962

FIVE RIVERS – Najma Akhtar’s latest album launch

Wednesday 1 April Doors 6.30pm, Show 8.30pm £22

Najma Akhtar, renowned vocalist, and her band take us down the Ganges, Niger, Thames,

Shannon and Mississippi with her ‘Five Rivers’ project. Vocals & Indian Harmonium / Najma Akhtar, Bass / John Deemer. Violin / Chris Haigh, Guitars / Ramon Goose, Percussion / Matt Fisher.

RICH MIX

35-47 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch E1 6LA Shoreditch High St overground

www.richmix.org.uk 020 7613 7498

ACTIVE STAY & PLAY

3, 10, 24, 31 March 1.45pm3pm FREE

Regular sessions for you and your child to play, explore, get active and develop skills in an exciting environment where you can have fun in a safe, soft play area.

TARABBAND presented by the AWAN Festival

Saturday 7 March 9pm £12

A six piece band led by Iraq-born musician Nadin Al Khalid whose stories of struggle and survival punctuate her Jazz, Persian and Latin influenced sound. Part of the Arab Women Artists Now Festival.

SONGS & STORIES OF TRANSFORMATION

Monday 16 March 7.30pm £10 / £8 concs

Blind women’s voices from around the world

JAWDANCE presented by Apples & Snakes

Wednesday 18 March 7pm £4 in advance, £6 on door

Join us for London’s biggest spoken word night celebrating its 10th anniversary with a headline set from Malika Booker, the Grenadian-British legend and Salma Ei-Wardany giving voice to people history has ignored. Hosted by the inimitable Yomi Sode. Plus the renowned open mic slot.

PINK LEMONADE

Wednesday 18 March – The Studio 7.30pm £12 / £10 concs. Age guidance 14+

Poetry, movement and original beats underscore this story about learning to accept yourself and saying goodbye to a love turned sour. ‘Pink Lemonade’ is Mika’s debut show. Part of the And What? Queer Arts Festival.

UK ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL

Wednesday 25 March – Sunday 5 April

Check out Tongues on Fire’s annual UK Asian Film Festival showing the very best contemporary South Asian films with the theme ‘Uprooted’ featuring stories of change and immigration.

LET DRUM BEAT’s ‘LUA CHEIA‘ Album Launch Party

Friday 27 March 8pm

This London-based band launches their new album ‘Lua Cheia’(full moon) taking you through their roots and musical heritages from Afro-Brazilian to West African and Scottish influences offering a true voyage of rhythms and original songs.

BECAUSE WE’VE READ

Sunday 29 March 1pm

Come and discover Sultana’s Dream – an utopian story written in English by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossein, a Muslim Bengali feminist, in colonial Bengal and first published in 1905.

ST MARGARET’S HOUSE

21 Old Ford Road E2 9PL Bethnal Green tube

www.stmargaretsouse.org.uk 020 8980 2092

INSPIRING WOMEN WORKSHOP

Saturday 28 March 12noon-1pm FREE

Join Freshwater Theatre for this fun-filled immersive drama workshop through herstory. Time travel alongside the Greek Goddess Hera and meet some of the most inspiring women and discover how their activities have shaped the world as we know it.

SCREEN 25

Harris Academy, South Norwood, Cumberland Avenue SE25 6AE

Norwood Junction stn www.screen25.com

VISIONARY WOMEN SEASON

To celebrate Women’s History Month, Screen 25 is proud to present a season of cinema dedicated to showcasing womanhood from across the globe. Visionary Women is series of screenings that represent the strength and power of women on and off the screen. From documentaries to retrospectives the season intends to spark conversation about the innovation, importance and inspiration of women worldwide.

A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE (15) + Q&A. Dir: Staten Eliot (2019)

Wednesday 4 March 7.40pm-10pm £9/£7 concs, under 25s £5

Bold, beautiful and brutal, we kick off with this deliciously dark British horror-comedy about a self-help addict embarking on a road trip with a life coach who happens to be a serial killer. Q&A with the amazing Screen Queens, the film’s director and lead actors.

JUDY (12A) + short film. Dir: Rupert Gold (2019)

Friday 6 & Saturday 7 March 7.40pm £9/£7/concs, under 25s £5

A moving biopic offering a glimpse into the life of beloved singer-actress Judy Garland, featuring a stunning performance by Renee Zellweger, as she grapples with the perils of fame.

HUSTLERS (15) + short film. Dir: Lorene Scafaria (2019)

Friday 13 March 7.40pm £9/£7concs, under 25s £5

Daring crime comedy based on the true story of a group of NY strippers who begin drugging and robbing wealthy businessmen in their club, led by an outstanding all female ensemble cast.

THE FAREWELL (PG) + short film. Dir: Lulu Wang (2019)

Wednesday 18 March 7.40pm £9/£7 concs, under 25s £5

An American-Chinese family arrange one final gathering after learning that their grandmother only has a few months to live, but decide not to inform her of her illness.

MEET ME IN ST LOUIS (U) + short film. Dir: Vincent Minelli (1945)

Friday 20 March 7.40pm £9/£7 concs, under 25s £5

A Technicolor classic starring the effervescent Judy Garland, this musical masterpiece paints a vivid portrait of the American Midwest at the turn of the twentieth century.

UNDERDOCS: THE CAVE (15) + short film. Dir: Feras Fayyad (2019)

Wednesday 26 March 7.40pm £9/£7concs, under 25s £5

Our strand dedicated to independent and underrated documentaries journeys to war-torn Syria to follow a dedicated team of female doctors as they treat casualties in the face of systematic sexism.

SOROPTIMISTS EAST LONDON

Bethnal green Methodist Church, 305 Cambridge Heath Road E2 9LH Bethnal Green tube

www.facebook.com/SIEastLondon

ECO-HEROINES OF YESTERDAY AND TODAY: Celebrating Women and the Environment

Tuesday 17 March 7.15pm-9.15pm Donations

Kate Metcalf, Co-Director of the Women’s Environmental Network, gives a talk on ‘What’s being a woman got to do with the environment? And what can women do about climate change?’ The answer is a lot – and women have been doing a lot! So it’s time to celebrate and learn about our local, national and international Eco- Heroines of Yesterday and Today, and find out about what you can do to help our environment and explore why climate change is a gender issue, looking at the impact on women.

TOWER HAMLETS LOCAL HISTORY LIBRARY & ARCHIVES

277 Bancroft Road E1 4DQ Stepney Green tub

www.ideastore.co.uk 020 7364 5978/1290

THE BETHNAL GREEN TUBE DISASTER: A woman’s perspective.

2 March – 4 April Mon, Wed, Fri 9am-5pm, Tues 10am-5pm, Sat 9am-5pm (1st & 3rd Sat of the month only)

During the London blitz of the Second World War many tube stations were used as underground shelters. On 3 March 1943 an air raid warning sounded and locals rushed for cover at Bethnal Green tube station. More than 170 people were crushed to death when the entrance to the station became blocked including 84 women and 62 children. This exhibition offers a unique focus on women’s perspectives, including that of survivor Babs Clark. Curated by the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster Committee. Please book for the following events at localhistory@towerhamlets.gov.uk

EXHIBITION LAUNCH

Thursday 5 March 6pm-7.45pm FREE

Join us for the launch of this unique exhibition. At 7pm we will welcome Sandra Scotting MBE (Honorary Secretary of the Stairway to Heaven Memorial Trust) and Harry Paticas MBE (Architect and Designer of the Bethnal Green Memorial) to reflect on the journey of commemorating the Bethnal Green tube disaster.

THE BETHNAL GREEN TUBE DISASTER: In Conversation with Babs Clark

Saturday 7 March 2.30pm-4pm FREE

Babs Clark survivor talks about her first hand experience. Introduced by Sandra Scotting MBE.

A CENTURY OF LIFE IN BETHNAL GREEN: Women and Two World Wars

Thursday 12 March 6pm-7pm FREE

Joyce Hampton (Author of Looking Back and The Story of the Huguenots) journeys through the decades covering social changes and two World Wars.

IN SEARCH OF THE MATRIARCH OF RUSSIA LANE- An evening with Kate Thompson

Thursday 19 March 6pm-7.30pm FREE

Sarah Richards interviews Kate Thompson (author and newspaper columnist) forming an engaging discussion on the richness, power and complexity of matriarchal life in wartime East End.

DESIGNING THE BETHNAL GREEN TUBE DISASTER MEMORIAL

Thursday 26 March 6pm-7pm FREE

Architect Harry Paticas MBE talks about how and why he designed the Memorial and believed it needed to be built to honour the worst civilian disaster of World War 2.

UP YOUR STREET

www.upyourstreet.wordpress.com 07762178941

Images of women in acrylic on joined up canvases.

TAKE YOUR HEART AWAY

The Pineapple Room, Dalston Eastern Curve Garden, 13 Dalston Lane E8 3DF Dalston Junction overground

Friday 6 March 11am-1pm FREE 60+ seniors only

Senior women as poets reading their works to each other.

RAGWORKS ‘Evil Women’

Jenny Hammond Primary School, Earlsham School, Leytonstone E11 3JH Forest Gate Stn/ Leyton tube.

Friday 13 March 11am FREE

Viewing of exhibition by Gillian Lawrence for senior citizens. Textile art using recycled cloth depicting evil women from children’s global nursery stories and world-wide folklore.

WHITECHAPEL GALLERY

77-82 Whitechapel High Street E1 7QX Aldgate East tube

www.whitechapelgallery.org 020 7522 7888

Tues-Sun 11am-6pm, Thurs 11am-9pm

VOICES THAT MATTER

Women living locally are welcome to participate in our ‘Women’s Forum’, a social group meeting regularly, using art and creativity to explore issues in our lives and communities. This project is run in partnership with City Gateway, Numbi and Women’s Environmental Network. ‘Postcards from the Diaspora’ is a monthly Reading Group series that engages with texts and speakers on themes that relate to multilingualism, decolonisation, intersectionality and diasporic thinking. Checkout the Whitechapel Gallery website for details.

YOUTH FORUM : Duchamp & Sons

Regular events for young people. Checkout Twitter/Instagram : @Duchampandsons

Blog Duchamp-and-sons.tumblr.com

EXHIBITIONS

RACHEL PIMM: Plates

Until 9 April – Galleries 5&6 FREE

Based on fieldwork undertaken in Ethiopia by artist Rachel Pimm with soundtrack by Lori E Allen creating visual and sonic topography with words, images and sounds.

IN THE EYE OF BAMBI

Until 19 April – Gallery 7 FREE

‘La Caixa’ Collection of Contemporary Art selected by Veronica Gerber Bicecci about the environment, by artists Concha Garcia, Victoria Civera, Carmen Calvo, Sophie Ristelhueber, and Bleda y Rosa. An enlarged eye looks out at the world. It is revealed as the eye of Disney’s plucky fawn Bambi orphaned by the destructive actions of humans depicted by the artists.

RADICAL FIGURES: PAINTING IN THE NEW MILLENIUM

Until 10 May – Galleries 1, 8, 9 £9.50/ £7.50/ Free to members

See the work of artists including Cecily Brown, Nicole Eisenman, Dana Schutz, Tala Madani, Sanya Kantarovsky, Christina Quarles, Tschabalala Self revitalising the expressive potential of figuration and charging their canvases with social and political undertones.

ARTISTS FILM INTERNATIONAL

Until 22 March – Zilkha Auditorium

Works by Rhea Storr, Vika Kirchenbauer, Yu Gou.

WOMEN’S LIBRARY @LSE

Portugal Street, WC2A 2HD Holborn/Temple tube

www.lse.ac.uk/library/whats-on 020 7107 5472

SOCIAL REVOLUTION: Women’s Liberation and Gay Liberation in the 1970s & 80s.

Until 3 April – Library Gallery Mon-Fri 9am-7pm, Sat & Sun 11am-5pm FREE

Exhibition marking 50 years since the beginning of two significant social movements in the UK: the first Women’s Liberation conference and the first UK meeting of the Gay Liberation Front at LSE. The exhibition explores how the movements mobilised thousands of people to believe that they could change the world through speaking out and challenging the status quo. With material from the Hall-Carpenter Archives and the Women’s Library it shows how activists used and transformed publishing, performances and visual imagery around gender.

SISTERS DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES : An Introduction

Wednesday 18 March – Education Room 6pm-7.30pm FREE

An introduction to the project run by the Women’s Resource Centre looking at the history of the women’s voluntary and community sector after Erin Pizzey set up the first women’s refuge. Find out about the oral histories recorded from key women figures, and feminist leadership training.

SAVRITI HENSMAN: Activist & Writer

Thursday 26 March – Education Room 6pm-7.30pm FREE

Saviti will talk about combining her Christian faith with her sexuality, working at the Black Lesbian & Gay Centre and being chair of LGCM (Lesbian & Gay Christian Movement).

THE PENELOPE PROJECT: an investigation into gender politics and sexual inequality.

Saturday 28 March – Education Room 11am-4pm FREE

An interactive art project considering gender and inequality by artists Helen David and Isabel Castro Jung. Through a programme of performance, visual art and workshops, Helen and Isabel wish to explore the continuing issues of gender inequality that, despite #MeToo, is still largely prevalent throughout our society.

www.alternativearts.co.uk info@alternativearts.co.uk 020 8800 6665