Ashburton Art Gallery is currently hosting a Rather Wonderful exhibition about the emancipation of women in New Zealand.
This show is made up of textile panels, each one dedicated to a particular woman who signed a 274 metre long petition to parliament, presented in 1893, demanding women’s suffrage in the country. The final works together make a joyous and thoughtful 300 metre work, remembering and retelling the extraordinary tales of these women.
It has been especially moving to see and read about Scotland and Aotearoa New Zealand through this project. This link is of the pieces that have Shetland connections. What amazing courage and strength it must have taken to move across the world to begin a new life and how moving it is to feel so close to the islands, even from 11,000 miles away.
You can read more about the exhibition here and the project here, and see the entire catalogue of all of the pieces here. The exhibition is on until 18th February in Ashburton.
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