This was a small exhibit tucked away upstairs at the Southbank, in the National Poetry Library I never knew existed. Always good to make cultural discoveries and the exhibit is well worth seeing for the thoughts it inspires and the conversations it sparks.
On show are textiles relating to a handful of women poets. My first thought on arriving was the prevalence of writers known to have mental illness--Stevie Smith, Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton for starters. The items on display are not necessarily original or even created by the writers, which confused me. Plath's skirt hangs next to a record player. But there is a large recreation of a red dress worn by Sexton. And there is a collection of shirt collars for Smith, but it's not clear if they are hers. Gwendolyn Brooks has a large typewriter with exploding forms. Hmm.
Also of interest are the records displayed, recordings of Smith, Plath and Dame Edith Sitwell, who is given an enormous dress cum boudoir for her display. I have lived in smaller flats than this dress! Dame Edith's recordings show her to be worthy of such a display as she emotes in her best received pronunciation. One can imagine the gestures accompanying such discourse.
And then there is Audre Lorde, represented by a vivid caftan hanging opposite Sylvia's skirt. The text reveals it was made to accommodate her asymmetrical form post-mastectomy. I wept.
One participant easy to overlook because it is by the entrance is the display for Theresa Hak Kyung Cha, the one writer with whom I was not familiar. Only when I looked her up did I realise her fascinating story. I wish I had known about her earlier.
