IS A WOMAN’S WORK EVER DONE? QUESTIONS PERFORMANCE ARTIST LEAH WATTS, IN THE LOWER GARDENS, UNTIL 4 MAY 2009

01/05/09

Leah Watts will perform her piece ‘Women’s Work’ dressed as a 1950’s housewife, complete with an old fashioned sewing machine, under a tree near the Bournemouth Eye balloon in the Lower Gardens, at 1.15pm on Saturday, and at 1.30pm on Sunday and 1.30pm on Bank Holiday Monday. Look out for the wedding dress hung up in the tree.



Watts, a mature student and mother, is studying on the BA (Hons) Fine Art degree course at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth.

“I’ve been getting a great reaction from the public, particularly from older women, who strongly relate to the drudgery, as well as the authentic vintage props in the work. I aim to question the assumptions that are held about stitch and its view as a ‘time wasting’ domestic skill, useful in the past as a necessity to mend when times were hard”, said Watts.

The work also questions the West’s insatiable desire for cheap high street clothing, and its part in the cheap female third world labour market, which could be seen as a cause of oppression and exploitation of a new generation of women globally.

The performance is part of ‘Cradle’, an annual exhibition which is a collaborative project between the Arts Institute Bournemouth, and Bournemouth Borough Council’s Arts Development and Parks and Countryside departments. Cradle marks the sixth collaboration, the project was established in 2003. Leading art magazine a-n described last year’s exhibition as ‘an anarchic outdoor event’ and celebrated the ‘sterling efforts’ of this endeavour in bringing contemporary visual arts to Bournemouth’s attention.

Councillor Barry Goldbart, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Bournemouth Borough Council said: “This is a fantastic project that we are pleased to be involved with each year. It provides a real opportunity for emerging artists to gain experience of showing work in a non-gallery town centre setting and I would welcome residents and visitors of all ages to come down and see their work.”

This year 20 selected students are taking part alongside lead artists, artist duo ‘The Girls’. To experience the playful and eclectic works of art for yourself, visit Bournemouth’s Lower Gardens until Monday 4 May, daily between 10am – 5pm. Pick up a free map from the exhibition information point, near the aviary, to read about and find all of the 20 works of art which will be dotted through out the gardens (or download a map from ArtBournemouth.co.uk). The art works are in a variety of media, including performance art – some of which will be timetabled, please check the website (ArtBournemouth.co.uk) for details.

An artist-led guided tour of the exhibition will start at 1pm on Saturday 2 May. Meet near the aviary, no booking is required, free service.

For more information visit the new website www.artbournemouth.co.uk.

ENDS

Editors notes

For more information on the Arts Institute at Bournemouth go to www.aib.ac.uk

For more information on Bournemouth Borough Council Arts Development go to www.bournemouth.gov.uk/residents/arts

For more information on The Girls go to www.thegirls.co.uk

High resolution images available: Call Zoe Sinclair 07915 0879722

Caption: Leah Watts performing ‘Women’s Work’. Photography by AnthonyHopwood.co.uk

Please contact Zoë Sinclair for any further information:

Zoe Sinclair
Cradle Lead Artist & Project Manager
Regular Visiting Tutor on BA (Hons) Fine Art at the Arts Institute
07915 089722
zsinclair[at]aib.ac.uk