00:00From historic portraits to contemporary film, a new exhibition at Liverpool's Walker Art Gallery
00:05is inviting visitors to reflect on identity, expression and the many ways gender shapes people's lives.
00:11Gender Stories is an exhibition which explores the idea that gender is something that affects all of us
00:17and so there's a whole range of artworks from the 19th century through to the present day.
00:23Gender Stories brings together artwork, photography and personal objects from different periods and perspectives
00:29creating what organisers describe as a space for conversation and connection.
00:35Among the featured artists are Grace and Perry, David Hockney, James Tissot and Antonio Showering.
00:40The display spans centuries of history and features oil paintings, ceramics, textiles, sculpture and video installations.
00:47We've got photography, oil paintings, sculpture as well as social history materials, teapots, clothing
00:54all of which tell us something about our gender.
00:59Visitors can also see personal items linked to social history, including a suffragette teapot and a Liverpool LGBTQ plus football
01:06scarf.
01:07One of the historical highlights is a watercolour by Sarah Biffin, a celebrated miniaturist who was born without arms and
01:12painted using her mouth.
01:14Biffin received a medal from the Society of Arts, completed commissions for the royal family and spent her final years
01:19in Liverpool
01:20where she's buried at St James's Cemetery.
01:22The earliest works in the exhibition really kind of set up constructs of gender.
01:27We've got Victorian paintings that show or represent an ideal femininity from that period, which seem more or less recognisable
01:36to us today.
01:37But through the exhibition, we want to explore how those constructs have changed over time.
01:42The exhibition was developed jointly by Bristol Museums, Brighton and Hove Museums and National Museums Liverpool.
01:47Curators in Liverpool have also worked with local organisations and community groups to include personal stories and new perspectives within
01:54the exhibition.
01:55Here at The Walker, we really believe that artworks can be an opportunity to see things from somebody else's perspective
02:02through the eyes of the artist and their lived experience.
02:05But art can also be a catalyst for us to think differently about the world around us.
02:08So we really hope that visitors to gender stories have that experience.
02:12The exhibition is a place where visitors can reflect on their own experiences whilst hearing from others.
02:18For organisers, the aim is not to simply display the work, but to encourage thoughtful discussion around identity, representation and
02:25belonging through stories that connect people from the past to the present.
02:29And so through the exhibition, we wanted to explore some of the ways that gender has changed and why.
02:34So we have looked at some of the kind of mass social movements that have led to change, including women's
02:39suffrage and more recently, some of the campaigns and protests around women's safety.
02:45But equally, campaign groups that advocate for trans rights and the LGBTQ plus community at large.
02:53Gender Stories is on display at the Walker Art Gallery until the 31st of August.
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