On June ninth, 2018, to celebrate the close of Ekua Bayunu’s 8-week AIR project, “Women Hold up Half the Sky”, you are invited to participate in a day of events presenting and reflecting on the work.

The 8-week project incorporates elements of sculpture and film, and will include the participation of a diverse range of members of the local community. The celebration will host happenings all around the park, all culminating in a closing party at the Pavilion café.

The events for the day are as follows:

·         An exhibition, including films of the project’s development, at Chorlton Lodge: 11-3pm

·         An outdoor sculpture trail, which will take place across the park: 1-6pm

·         Art Workshop in the community room at the Depot: 12-2pm

·         Exhibition and Closing Party at the Pavilion: 2-6pm

The project draws from a central theme of the Pankhurst in the Park project, the legacy of the suffrage movement and the special significance of Alexandra Park in this history. Emmeline Pankhurst lived just on the borders of the park and 2018 marks not only the centenary of the right of women (over 30) to vote. It will also be a hundred and ten years since hundreds of suffragettes marched in Alexandra Park. 

Bayunu’s work will expand beyond local concerns to build on the themes of global women’s leadership and consider culture, the arts and creativity as tools for active citizenship of central significance.

Already with significant experience as an artist, Bayunu moved to Manchester in 1993 and has since then produced several high-profile works around the city (“Sensory Garden” in Hulme Park, “Anansi Mosaics” at Royce Primary School), worked in outreach support at Manchester’s Contact Theatre between 2001 and 2006, worked from her studio at Artwork Atelier in Salford, and organised exhibitions celebrating Black History Month in collaboration with Global Arts Manchester in 2017. Ekua started 2018 with her solo exhibition titled “Re:Birth” at Manchester’s Chuck Gallery. She has lived and worked as an artist and tutor with a keen sense of community participation for several decades.

 Follow Ekua @ekuabay & @globalartsmcr #WomenHoldUpHalfTheSky