The inaugural exhibition at the new Women’s Museum in East London will open on International Women’s Day 2024, it has announced.
Final building works are set to commence on the space in Barking Wharf Square by year end.
The museum, developed by Barking and Dagenham Council, is described as “a socially engaged exhibition and community space, which will give platform to the experiences of women, girls and allies from the area and beyond.”
It has also revealed a new visual identity and its public programme, which commences next week.
Partnering with the EFG London Jazz Festival, the public programme commences on Saturday 18 November 2023 with a series of workshops and performances curated by Nephertiti Oboshie Schandorf including new audio and movement-based performances. Exhibition planning and ongoing research projects at the Museum are linked to the borough’s accredited Archives and Collections at Valence House Museum.
The public programme event will feature the unveiling of a new artwork by Meera Shakri Osbourne, which will be the first in a series of commissions by contemporary artists for the inaugural exhibition ‘An Idea of a Life’ on International Women’s Day, Friday 8 March 2024.
In tandem with the programme comes the launch of the new visual identity for the museum, conceived by designer Claire Mason, with letters drawn directly from historic source materials found in the borough’s local Archives.
Councillor Saima Ashraf, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Community Leadership and Engagement, said: “We’re so proud to celebrate women, past and present, who have paved and continue to pave the way with their invaluable contributions in our community and beyond.”
The museum is distinct from the East End Women’s Museum, which is temporarily closed.
