Sites of sabotage: a history of protest
Monday 11 June 2018 6.30 - 8pm
The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens, Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly
£15, £9 concessions. A limited amount of tickets will be available to buy at the Ticket Desk
The Great Spectacle
In partnership with
From burnt-down pillar boxes to powerful street art, this panel discussion explores whether there is historic value in sites that have witnessed political and social protest.
In February 1912 Emmeline Pankhurst declared that: “the argument of the broken pane of glass is the most valuable argument in modern politics”. The right for some women to vote was won in 1918, in part through militant protest, including a considerable number of attacks on the built environment – both public and private property.
The Royal Academy itself was a prominent site of protest, with suffragette Mary Wood attacking John Singer Sargent RA’s portrait of the author Henry James on the opening day of the 1914 Summer Exhibition. Sargent’s portrait can be seen this year in The Great Spectacle exhibition, telling the story of 250 years of the Summer Exhibition.
Now, 100 years after the vote was won, Historic England and the RA present a panel discussion on the heritage value of places that have been targeted by protestors. How much historic value is there in sites that have witnessed political and social protest, and should this be recorded, shared and looked after?
The panel will debate this hot topic in light of Historic England’s upcoming Suffrage Centenary listings that form part of Historic England's HerStories campaign to enrich the national record of listed sites with women’s history – making history Her Story.
Speakers include:
Prof Krista Cowman – Professor of History and Director of Research, University of Lincoln; author of Women in British politics, c. 1689-1979
Emily Gee – London Planning Director, Historic England
Stewy – artist, author of life size stencils of psycho-geographically placed British icons, such as Mary on the Green
Rachel Cooke (chair) – journalist and author of Her Brilliant Career: Ten Extraordinary Women of the Fifties (2013)
This event is organised in partnership with Historic England as part of the London Festival of Architecture.
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