Art History in Practice VIII: Kirsty Baker

Left to right: Celia Elizabeth Thompson, Linda Pearl, Linda Hardy, Barb McDonald, in front of Debra Bustin's sign for the Women's Gallery, 1982. Photo: Marian Evans

Art History in Practice VIII

The Wellington Women’s Gallery: a space ‘by and for women’

Kirsty Baker

Wednesday 19 October, 5.15pm
Adam Art Gallery Te Pātaka Toi

The Women’s Gallery operated in Wellington for four years in the early 1980s by a collective of women who exhibited the work of female artists only. This feminist space sought to provide an educational, supportive and inclusive environment, free from the obstacles which often prohibited women from displaying their work in mainstream art spaces. In this talk, Kirsty Baker will outline her recent MA thesis research, locating the Women’s Gallery within the cultural and political context of New Zealand in the 1980s.

Kirsty Baker is originally from Scotland, where she studied Art History and Theatre Studies at the University of Glasgow. Her research interests are often shaped by the overlapping spaces that exist across disciplines, and the interlinked nature of the political and the creative. Influenced by an enduring engagement with feminism, her MA thesis explored the role of the Women’s Gallery in Wellington within New Zealand’s art historical and socio-political landscape. Kirsty will soon embark upon a PhD in the department of Art History at VUW. Through her doctoral research she plans to produce a critical historiography of the writing addressing women artists in New Zealand.

The Art History in Practice Series series is presented in partnership with the Victoria University of Wellington Art History Programme. The series showcases current art historical research by established and emerging art historians and curators, working inside and outside the academy.

For more information about the Art History in Practice seminar series, please visit our website.

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