Picture-packed exhibition celebrates women's role in mining villages

Two hundred years of women in the mining industry is being remembered in a powerful new exhibition.

It is called Shifted and it looks at how women have influenced mining life, politics and culture.

A huge response already

The East Durham Artist Network is hosting the exhibition in the EDAN Gallery Church Street, Seaham and it coincides with the 40th anniversary of the Miners Strike.

Angela Sandwith, a member of the EDAN committee, told the Echo: "It runs until April 6 and we have already had a great response to it."

The exhibition was officially opened by the Mayor of Seaham, Jennifer Bell, and people can view Shifted from Tuesday to Saturday between 11am – 3pm.

It includes a section from the Southwick REACH group which organises cultural activities in the area.

'Widely held stereotypes'

Angela added: "The ways in which women supported and sustained the struggle of 1984 - 1985 has been seen as one of its unique features.

"It took many people by surprise, and its impact was all the more notable because of widely held stereotypes implying that women played a secondary and largely passive role in mining life."

"Most of the publicly accessible art that addresses mining history focuses on miners and the world of men.

Struggles of 84-85 shifted long-held perceptions

"The EDAN exhibition seeks to shift the focus to the world of women and to remember how the strike shifted the power balance between men and women, shifted perceptions of women’s capacities, shifted the expectations of what women might achieve in a rapidly changing, shifting world."

An informative and detailed look at the exhibition can also be found on the EDAN website.

To find out more, look up EDAN on Facebook & Instagram or call (0191) 649 9431.