Same Difference

East Sussex College students studying creative A Level and Diploma courses present their work in Same Difference, an exhibition of photography and textiles at Charleston Farmhouse in Firle this week (12-16^th December).

This year marks the centenary of the Representation of the People Act which gave the vote to property owning women over 30 and all men over 21. The brave suffragettes who fought for so long were finally rewarded with acknowledgement and a degree of power, though it was to be a further 10 years before they had the same voting rights as men.

It is fitting that 100 years later the new galleries of Charleston Farmhouse are showcasing the work of visual activist Zanele Muholi, a campaigning photographer whose work focuses on race, gender and sexuality. Her body of work looking at black lesbian, gay, transgender, and intersex individuals reminds us that there is still work to be done in ensuring we all have equal rights.

Meg Sullivan, an A-Level Photography Teacher at East Sussex College, says, “Our students were inspired by the work of Muholi, and the stories of the Bloomsbury Group who were able to feel at ease in the Firle countryside. The students have looked at issues around gender and identity and have taken these photographs in the last two months in response. You can see men with make-up, women portrayed with male characteristics, stereotypes, role models and suffragette tears, as the students show you what they think it is like to be emancipated in the twenty first century. It is worth pondering to consider what the original suffragettes, and residents of Charleston, would have made of it all.

“A huge thank you to Dr Diana Wilkins, Brigitte Lardinois and Karen Dobres, who inspired the students with their stories of the suffragettes, the development of photography, and tales of Lewes Football Club becoming the first club in the country to pay both their male and female players the same wage.

‘Same Difference’ runs 12-16^th December at Charleston Farmhouse in Firle. A celebration takes place on Saturday 15^th December, 11am-12.30pm, all are welcome to attend.