Loughborough University: On-campus exhibition reflects the caring responsibilities of academics during Covid-19 lockdowns

An exhibition currently open in the Martin Hall Gallery tells the stories of women academics trying to manage care responsibilities whilst working during the Covid-19 lockdowns from March 2020.

The exhibition presents a three-metre-wide quilt, named ‘The Domestic Academic Quilt’. It was created by twenty-three women academics with caring responsibilities who responded to a call out by the University of Brighton’s Principal Lecturer Vanessa Marr. A series of online workshops with the participants allowed them to find strength and solidarity to share their stories through stitch and conversation.

The aim of the project was to document the gendered inequalities of academic research during the global pandemic, whilst providing a safe space for discussion which protects and values women’s contributions to research and the inequalities faced during this period of time.

The final contribution from the participating individuals was a personal stitched panel along with an audio reflection of their experience, all of which are showcased at the exhibition.

The exhibition has been made available at Loughborough University thanks to Doctoral Researcher Penny Davis from the Department of International Relations, Politics and History, who is a co-curator of the initiative and who is herself carrying out her research into drawing and maternal subjectivity.