Brunswick Park Film Festival
9–11 September 2022
commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London
The camera follows the actions of a group of contemporary women as they engage in a self-defence workshop. They run through both violent and non-violent strategies developed by feminist activists, in order to combat police violence. We see the women engage in a learning process in which they struggle to overcome the taboos surrounding female aggression and anger. As they rehearse movements and practise Judo throws, the participants build up to a recreation of an archival photograph of The People’s Army – a self-defence group that was part of the East London Federation of the Suffragettes (ELFS) –posing with guns in Victoria Park, London, around 1914. The video’s ultimate image is something like a studio photograph from the early-twentieth century or, more to the point, a history painting that moves –as it takes place in front of a painted theatrical backdrop of the park. Today the history of the suffragette movement is celebrated in the UK, but what is often left out is that in their time they were considered to be terrorists by the state and the police. This level of demonisation by the authorities is an experience shared by many in the contemporary activist groups who took part in the process of making this project, underlining the violence with which those in power continue to respond to struggles for equal rights.
In exchange for taking part in the film, participants received a whole day of self-defence training with movement director Jennifer Jackson. We provided lunch and a crèche with free childcare, so that those with children could attend. Other historical sources used in the workshop included Women Against Pit Closures, who participated in the miners’strike of 1984-85, and Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp, an anti-nuclear protest from 1981-2000, which several of the women present had participated in. The film was commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London and is part of a series of works based on research into the East London Federation of the Suffragettes, including the project Neither Strivers Nor Skivers – They Will Not Define Us, exhibition and publication forthcoming at The Bower 2021.
Bio
Olivia Plender’s practice draws on social history and often focuses on the ideological framework around the narration of history. Recent solo shows include Practicing Politics: The Fogelstad Women's Citizenship School 1922–1954, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden (2019) Olivia Plender, Maureen Paley Gallery, London (2016); Many Maids Make Much Noise, ar/ge kunst, Bolzano (2015–16); Rise Early, Be Industrious, which toured to MK Gallery, Milton Keynes; Arnolfini, Bristol and Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow (all 2012). In 2010, she collaborated with Hester Reeve to reinstate the Emily Davison Lodge, initially founded in 1915 after the death of suffragette Emily Wilding Davison. In 2013, Plender and Reeve joined Emma Chambers to curate an exhibition of artworks by Sylvia Pankhurst at Tate Britain. In 2015, Sternberg Press published the monograph Olivia Plender: Rise Early, Be Industrious. Olivia Plender is represented by Maureen Paley, London.
commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London
The camera follows the actions of a group of contemporary women as they engage in a self-defence workshop. They run through both violent and non-violent strategies developed by feminist activists, in order to combat police violence. We see the women engage in a learning process in which they struggle to overcome the taboos surrounding female aggression and anger. As they rehearse movements and practise Judo throws, the participants build up to a recreation of an archival photograph of The People’s Army – a self-defence group that was part of the East London Federation of the Suffragettes (ELFS) –posing with guns in Victoria Park, London, around 1914. The video’s ultimate image is something like a studio photograph from the early-twentieth century or, more to the point, a history painting that moves –as it takes place in front of a painted theatrical backdrop of the park. Today the history of the suffragette movement is celebrated in the UK, but what is often left out is that in their time they were considered to be terrorists by the state and the police. This level of demonisation by the authorities is an experience shared by many in the contemporary activist groups who took part in the process of making this project, underlining the violence with which those in power continue to respond to struggles for equal rights.
In exchange for taking part in the film, participants received a whole day of self-defence training with movement director Jennifer Jackson. We provided lunch and a crèche with free childcare, so that those with children could attend. Other historical sources used in the workshop included Women Against Pit Closures, who participated in the miners’strike of 1984-85, and Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp, an anti-nuclear protest from 1981-2000, which several of the women present had participated in. The film was commissioned by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London and is part of a series of works based on research into the East London Federation of the Suffragettes, including the project Neither Strivers Nor Skivers – They Will Not Define Us, exhibition and publication forthcoming at The Bower 2021.
Bio
Olivia Plender’s practice draws on social history and often focuses on the ideological framework around the narration of history. Recent solo shows include Practicing Politics: The Fogelstad Women's Citizenship School 1922–1954, Tensta Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden (2019) Olivia Plender, Maureen Paley Gallery, London (2016); Many Maids Make Much Noise, ar/ge kunst, Bolzano (2015–16); Rise Early, Be Industrious, which toured to MK Gallery, Milton Keynes; Arnolfini, Bristol and Centre for Contemporary Arts, Glasgow (all 2012). In 2010, she collaborated with Hester Reeve to reinstate the Emily Davison Lodge, initially founded in 1915 after the death of suffragette Emily Wilding Davison. In 2013, Plender and Reeve joined Emma Chambers to curate an exhibition of artworks by Sylvia Pankhurst at Tate Britain. In 2015, Sternberg Press published the monograph Olivia Plender: Rise Early, Be Industrious. Olivia Plender is represented by Maureen Paley, London.