Women of Castle

The social history of women at Castle is fascinating, but rarely celebrated and this project is the first time it has been explored to this kind of depth. 

Visit the online exhibition here.

Artist Bex Harvey is undertook a commission with University College Durham Trust and University College to celebrate the social and cultural history of women at Castle. 'Women of Castle' is a really down-to-earth project; it’s essentially a social study on the female and female-identifying figures who have contributed to and are important to the history of the college. The work itself will have a number of outputs for the public and community of Castle to view: The Great Hall now hosts two, custom-made photographic light boxes that illuminate the portraits of twelve different women who have contributed hugely to Castle life in many different ways. These images rotate each term, profiling a new important figure; the story of each woman also depicted in an accompanying publication. Furthermore, Bex produced an alternative historical tour of the building, which focuses exclusively on female and female-identifying individuals connected to Castle, and a number of other artistic and creative ‘interventions’ that all respond to the theme of celebrating the female social history.  

Most importantly, this commission engaged and coinnected the entire Castle community. Students, academic staff, pastoral staff, housekeeping and catering staff past and present are celebrated within this project, which gave Castle as a community the opportunity to recognise and appreciate some of the amazing women who have been a part of the space throughout history.  

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