Top 5: International Women’s Day 2018 events inc. art & a football conference

Celebrate International Women’s Day 2018 in Manchester with a host of events covering women’s contributions to sport, art, culture and science.

Upfront and Onside: Women’s Football Conference at National Football Museum
As part of International Women’s Day 2018, The National Football Museum are hosting two days of talks focusing on the watershed moments in women’s football. As part of the Arts Council’s Hidden Histories project, The National Football Museum has been trawling through their archives to expose women’s 150-year involvement in the beautiful game. An accompanying exhibition includes material from the early days of the game and kits from throughout the ages – up to the present day FIFA Women’s World Cups.
Thu 8 – Fri 9 Mar, National Football Museum, Urbis Building, Cathedral Gardens, Todd Street, Manchester M4 3BG. Tel: 0161 605 8200, 10am-5pm, FREE, www.nationalfootballmuseum.com

Art & Activism: Manchester Art School to Host ‘Sylvia’s Sisters’ Event
Manchester Metropolitan marks International Women’s Day by celebrating the artistic and social practice of its female students and researchers. As part of MMU’s ongoing RAH! (Research in Arts and Humanities) project, this all-day event exhibits the work of women at the university in a range of practices, from textiles to architecture and writing. MMU has historic connections with the struggle for women’s rights: suffragette and anti-fascist Sylvia Pankhurst studied at Manchester Art School from 1898 to 1903.
Thu 8 Mar, Manchester Metropolitan University, All Saints, Manchester, M15 6BH. Tel: 0161 247 2000, 10am-5pm, FREE, www.mmu.ac.uk

Remembering the People’s Representation Act: Ruth Barker & Hannah Leighton-Boyce at Castlefield Gallery
This new exhibition, the fruit of a residency Ruth Barker and Hannah Leighton-Boyce undertook at the Castlefield Gallery last year, examines motherhood, vulnerability and illness within society. Marking both International Women’s Day and the 100th anniversary of The Representation of The People’s Act, which gave landowning women over 30 the right to vote, this exhibition looks back at the long history of the suffrage movement, as well as examining what it is to be a woman today.
Fri 9 Mar – Sun 29 Apr, Castlefield Gallery, 2 Hewitt Street, Manchester, M15 4GB. Tel: 0161 832 8034, times vary, FREE, www.castlefieldgallery.co.uk

Join an ‘Accelerating Gender Parity’ Discussion at The University of Manchester
Angela Saini, award winning British scientist and author, will be coming to Manchester to celebrate IWD and deliver a public talk on the divide between women and men in the workplace. Angela will also be discussing her recently published book, ‘Inferior – How Science Got Women Wrong’, which blows apart not only gender stereotypes but the scientific techniques used to enforce them, and what this means for the future of women.
Mon 5 Mar, The University of Manchester, University Place, Lecture Theatre B, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, 12pm-3pm, FREE, www.eventbrite.co.uk

Sylvia Pankhurst: Working Women Exhibition Celebrates Centenary at Manchester Art Gallery
Sylvia Pankhurst, leader of the Women’s Social and Political Union, was an acclaimed artist as well as an active suffragette. Selected from the collection of Pankhurst’s granddaughter, the work records the lives of working women across Britain in the early 20th century. It provides an uncompromising portrait of British working class society from an artist who would eventually give it all up to become a political champion.
Fri 19 Jan- Sun 29 Apr, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester art gallery, Mosley Street, Manchester, M2 3JL, Tel: 0161 245 7245, 10am-5pm, FREE, www.manchesterartgallery.org

And one more for luck…

Wythenshawe Women Invite You to Celebrate IWD with Tea and Cake
Join the ladies of Wythenshawe for tea, cake and empowerment. A celebration of local women, strength and spirit. Come and join in to listen to speakers, visit the information booths and eat cake.
Fri 9 Mar, Wythenshawe Forum, Wythenshawe, M22 5RX, 12.30pm-3:30pm, FREE, www.eventbrite.co.uk

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