How to be a woman? is a digital publication that gathers together responses from 77 visitors to my stall at Henley Street during Shakespeare’s 460 birthday celebrations on Saturday 20 April 2024.
Why did I want to collect people’s replies to that question on William’s birthday? That’s because the Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust during the next few years is concentrating on a long-term project researching the Women Who Made Shakespeare, starting with the women closest to him: his mother, wife and daughters.
The Trust invited the Coventry Hub of Mothers Who Make (a national network of artists who are also mothers) to work with visitors during the celebrations through a number of hands-on activities open to all. My invitation was just one of the offerings next to engaging workshops by Janet Tryner, Natalie Zervou-Kerruish and Rosie Bolton.
My invitation resulted in a number of responses: thorny and controversial, easy on the eye, funny, flippant, poignant and shared in a number of languages. All assembled and collated on my kitchen table they offer a snapshot into what a group of people in Stratford thought in April 2024 about the conditions of being a woman. I hope you will enjoy the read and let me know what you think about it in comments on socials.
Ania Bas
To find out more about Ania and her work check out some of the links below:
PDF: https://issuu.com/aniabas/docs/how_to_be_a_woman_aniabas
Janet: https://www.janettryner.com/
Natalie: https://cargocollective.com/nataliezervoucouk
Rosie: https://leatherconservation.org/
MWM Cov: https://linktr.ee/mwmcov
Ania: www.aniabas.com