City of Suffragettes: Part of Manchester Jewellery Week

City of Suffragettes is a major contemporary jewellery exhibition celebrating Manchester’s pioneering role in the fight for women’s rights.

Opening as part of the inaugural Manchester Jewellery Week, the exhibition brings together jewellers from across the UK to explore the city’s remarkable feminist legacy through original, thought-provoking jewellery.

Manchester is known around the world as the birthplace of the suffragette movement. Inspired by this extraordinary heritage, members of the Association for Contemporary Jewellery (ACJ) were invited to create new work responding to the women, movements and ideas that have shaped the city – from Emmeline Pankhurst and her family to today’s activists, artists and community leaders.

The resulting exhibition presents a diverse collection of contemporary jewellery exploring themes of equality, protest, resilience, courage and transformation. Each piece offers a personal interpretation of Manchester’s feminist story, demonstrating how jewellery can communicate powerful social and political ideas as well as exceptional craftsmanship.

City of Suffragettes has been curated by Eve Redmond (Co-Director of Manchester Jewellery Week and Divinity Studio), Jessica Bennett (Manager, Manchester Craft & Design Centre), Rebecca Skeels (Chair of the Association for Contemporary Jewellery), and guest curator and Manchester jeweller Sabira Silcock of Sken Studios.

The exhibition is one of the highlights of the first Manchester Jewellery Week – I Wanna Be Adorned, a new city-wide festival celebrating contemporary jewellery, art jewellery and adornment.

Inspired by the internationally renowned Munich Jewellery Week, the festival features exhibitions, talks, workshops, studio trails and events across Manchester, Sale, Chorlton and Altrincham. Manchester Craft & Design Centre is the festival hub, hosting exhibitions, talks and special events throughout the week.

EXHIBITION DETAILS
Saturday 12th September – Thursday 24th December
Free entrance
Opening Hours:
Monday – Saturday, 10am – 5.30pm
2nd Sunday of the Month, excluding January, 11am – 5pm

EXHIBITION PREVIEW
Saturday 12th September, 2pm – 5pm
Join us for a drink and meet the artists.

 Access
We welcome guide and support dogs and kindly ask that all dogs are kept on leads. The exhibition space is currently raised and not directly accessible for wheelchair or mobility aid users. However, the open layout allows the exhibition to be viewed comfortably from a distance.