Women Between the Lines - Found Cities; Lost Objects Walk

In August, I was involved in researching Bertz Associate’s Words & Walks Women Between the Lines guided tour around the streets surrounding the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. This was the most recent addition to Bertz’s Words and Walk project; an initiative by Simone Word Smith & Iris Bertz, where Smith creates a poem & Bertz a walk from the stories found through research. They are committed to bringing attention to the untold stories of women past and present who have made Birmingham their home. Previously, we have walked the streets of Ladywood and the Edgbaston Reservoir, slowly strolling through decades of forgotten histories and paying attention to buildings, paths and greenspaces we may have otherwise missed. This most recent walk, led by Iris Bertz and Poet Simone Word Smith, was delivered in collaboration with Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery and took inspiration from the “Found Cities-Lost objects” exhibition curated by Lubaina Himid CBE. 

I began my research in the Found Cities-Lost Objects exhibit. The exhibit encourages visitors to view cities through the eyes of women, taking into account the power imbalances, community spaces and emotional experiences built into the cities we inhabit. Himid questions the suitability of urban environments for women, whilst also celebrating the resilience of those who have made them their home. Quotes from local women are dotted throughout the space. These recollections of personal experience and sentimental attachment encouraged me to view the surrounding areas as sites of creativity, discovery and community. 

I exited the museum with a mind full of questions - how has Birmingham been influenced by the women that worked here? How can we uncover the role they played? What would these streets look like if we centred their experiences? How do I carry their legacy with me? These questions stayed with me as I walked from the museum to pigeon park and back through New Street, looking closely at the buildings I passed and scouring for traces of the women who used them. It is no surprise that many stories were hard to uncover but within minutes of looking closer into the environment around me, women began appearing. 

Beginning with two women who have been influential to the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery in recent years. In 2004, Birmingham born Rita McLean became the first woman of colour director of the BMAG. Whilst holding the position, she spearheaded a number of diversifying and decolonising initiatives including a collaboration with the Equiano project. This partnership led to the museum creating an exhibit which centred Black aboltionist Equiano within their work acknowledging the bicentenary of the slave trade. Since leaving the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in 2014, she has been the chair of the Birmingham Civic Society Heritage Committee and worked on the Everything to Everybody project advisory board. 

McLean’s influence has been felt by current co-ceo and heritage trailblazer Sara Wajiid, who cites McLean’s work as integral to her own projects. Wajiid was appointed as Co-CEO in 2020, becoming the first woman of colour, and one of the first people of colour, to hold the role in the museum's history. In 2014 she founded Museum Detox to provide a professional networking group for BAME individuals working in the heritage sector, and she produced the highly coveted ‘The Past Is Now’ exhibit for the Birmingham Museum Trust in 2016. This women-led exhibit addressed Birmingham’s role in the British Empire, and influenced the anti-racist, POC-Centric approach to history which is seen in the museum today.

Moving past the museum, I was struck by the gorgeous red brick buildings of the Birmingham and Midlands Institute and the School of Art on Margaret Street. Both of these buildings received large funding grants from wealthy Midlands heiress Louisa Anne Ryland (1814-1889). Despite insisting on a low profile and often making donations as a ‘friend and benefactor’ of the city, Ryland funded countless iconic sites across the city. From the BMI and the School of Art to Cannon Hill Park and Birmingham Women's hospital, the city would not look the same without her. Ryland was one of the most prolific donors to civic society in Victorian Birmingham, yet her name is far less recognisable than the likes of Joseph Chamberlain and George Dawson. 

Yet, her investments have created opportunities in Birmingham for centuries to come. The Birmingham and Midlands Institute, for example, has provided educational courses and support for residents since its creation. Since the Victorian period influential figures within British civic culture have been appointed as president, affirming their position of national renown. In 1964 Dame Ninette Valois, the founder of The Royal Ballet School and Birmingham Royal Ballet, became the first woman to be granted the coveted role. She was the 111th president, marking over a century of male leaders. Since then, only ten women in total have been president - a fact that we need to address. 

My walk then took me towards pigeon park. I later discovered that this route mirrored contemporary British Asian artist Roo Dhissou’s bicycle walk. Dhissou’s art is inspired by her experiences moving from the barefoot villages of Punjab to the busy city streets of Birmingham. You can visit her tea bicycle in the round room of the BMAG. Informed by Sikh practices, she rode the bicycle throughout the city to gift people tea and encourage conversation.  Whilst protected by her artistic endeavours, by offering herself up for conversation, Dhissou brings attention to the mixed feelings of vulnerability and privilege experienced by women living in British cities who are safer than international peers but still subject to threats and concerns. Dhissou is currently completing her PHD at BCU, where she seeks to champion both public activity and personal rest and recollection. Values which feel important to the women amongst us who dedicate so much time to activism and activity. 

One way in which I recharge is by going to the cinema, and as I walked back towards the museum along New Street I was greeted with Birmingham’s cinematic culture. From the ODEON which still stands, to the arched facade of various theatres and cinemas of the golden age. One Birmingham-born woman has had a huge influence on the world of cinema, yet her significance is hard to find. Iris Barry (1895-1969) was born in Washwood Heath and educated in Belgium, before becoming a film critic for various newspapers including The Spectator and The Daily Mail. She later founded The London Film Society in 1925, and the Film Study department at the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1932. Barry built the department from nothing, even securing a deal with the major American film studios to get them to donate their prints after a movie finished its commercial run. Today, the department hosts over 30,000 films and 1.5 million film stills. She was integral to the development of modern film studies, yet her influence is hardly known. 

Needless to say, many of these women's achievements have been left uncelebrated, unknown and overlooked. I couldn't help but notice that many avoided the spotlight - whether this be through choice or circumstance. It was, therefore, a great privilege to walk in their footsteps and uncover their stories. It is our job to remember these women, even when their achievements are brushed under the rug due to fears of boastfulness or arrogance. We must celebrate ourselves and each other loudly. 

Whilst the Found Cities- Lost Objects guided walk was delivered in August, we hope to repeat it soon. You can check our upcoming events page for more details.