A photographic tale of women in industry...
6:45 p.m.
Female workers in a shell fuse shop at a French munitions factory photographed during a visit by British journalists, 1915-1918
Women laborers at work on the surface of the “Anna” coal mine (“Anna Grube”) in Pszow near the city of Wodzislaw Slaski, Upper Silesia, 16 March 1917
18/02/20 - What do we expect to see at a Contemporary Art museum? Surely the work of an artist, alive or dead, produced after the 70s. So what happens when what's on display is an exhibition of photos of women in overalls? Is this a photographic document? Who took the photos? The last two questions have no certain answer or maybe the answers are no longer important.
The exhibition "Prohibitions, exclusions, superstitions (A photographic tale of women in industry)", at the Muzeum Slaskie in Poland, illustrates on the role of female workers in factories in the last 150 years, focusing particularly on both World Wars. The aim is to place the spotlight on the female presence in those hardworking conditions, to demystify the concept of physical and emotional frailty often associated to women.
Female workers unloading trollies with coal in a tunel of the ‘Szombierkl” mine in Bytom, 1956. One of the very few photographs showing women working underground.
Women workers groom lines of transparent noses for deadly a-20 attack bombers at the Douglas Aircraft’s Long Beach plant, California, October 1942. The factory lights are being reflected on the surface of the noses.
In the photos we see women in mines and weapon factories, but also female workers in the textile industry (a role usually reserved for women in the 20th century). The absence of men during both World Wars moved women to asume different roles, providing new work perspectives and ethics. This is what is shown in the photographs.
A female worker controlling a conveyer belt in a sorting house of the ‘Wieczorek’ coal mine in the Nikiszowiec borough of Katowice, 2010
Thanks to the proliferation of female artists in the last two years, museums and galleries are approaching new formulas towards feminism. Not so long ago, when these institutions were led by men, exhibitions like this one were out of the questions. They are welcomed and celebrated today.
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