An exhibition exploring the historical lives of five historical females, who all worked in the travelling steam fairgrounds of the West Country, mostly since forgotten, will open at Cecil Sharp House, the London home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, in June.
Through a series of visual installations, traditional signwriter and fairground artist Amy Goodwin, re-constructs the identities of five fairground females, whose lives have previously appeared in archives only as fragments. Drawing on the artist’s own fairground heritage and research with both the National Fairground and Circus Archive (NFCA) and the Vaughan Williams Memorial Library, this immersive and playful exhibition is informed by an insider’s appreciation of its rich history.
The exhibition opens on 23 June 2021 at Cecil Sharp House and runs until 13 September 2021. Admission is free daily but by appointment only whilst Covid restrictions continue. To visit the exhibiton please contact
[email protected] or call 020 7485 2206 to book a time. Before your visit please read Cecil Sharp House’s current guidance for visitors
https://www.efdss.org/venue-hire/covid-secure)
Amy Goodwin said: ‘The opportunity to work with the English Folk Dance and Song Society is incredibly exciting. It offers a new context for both my research and visual practice. It also provides a new space for the stories of travelling fairground females, discovered in my research with the NFCA, to intermingle with those discovered during my research at EFDSS, such as the life of Vesta Tilley.’
Katy Spicer, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, said: ‘“We are delighted to work with Amy to bring this story of forgotten women to Cecil Sharp House as part of our Different Voices programme.”
Photo: Lizzie, Striding Along 5d courtsey of Artist
