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A large-scale exhibition of international artists, highlighting the experiences of women and celebrating their triumphs – and showing how the struggle for liberation is ongoing and hard-won.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

– Maya Angelou, Still I Rise

“When “Still I rise” is said in unison, a future without patriarchal hierarchies starts to appear…a future that still requires artistic imaginings for us to see it – ★★★★★” – The Guardian

Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance – Act 3 is a timely exhibition focusing on the his/her story of resistance movements and alternative forms of living from a gendered perspective. This major group exhibition looks at resistance across different times, places and scales: from the domestic sphere to large-scale uprisings. Establishing intersectional thinking as its driving method and incorporating feminist and queer thought and action, Still I Rise spans the late 19th century to the present and beyond.

With over 100 exhibits by some 70 practitioners, Still I Rise presents the way in which resistance has been approached by visual artists, writers, architects, designers, activists, working as individuals or in groups. It takes place within a global context, referring to both key historic moments and recent women-led uprisings and demonstrations, including mass protests in Argentina confronting violence against women: ‘Ni Una Menos’, and the global Women’s Strike initiated in the US.

At Arnolfini, Still I Rise responds to local conversations about Bristol’s legacy in the Transatlantic Slave Trade by focusing on black feminist artwork and activism. It also looks at the histories of feminist movements out of Bristol, by featuring a range of material from Feminist Archive South. Initiated in 1978 and based in Bristol, FAS is said to be the UK’s first archive of feminist writing, publications, and donated material.

At the core of Still I Rise is the idea of collaboration, community building and egalitarianism. Throughout the exhibition, Arnolfini also hosts a programme of performances, screenings, workshops and conversations, creating a site for participation and a platform for multiple voices.

Exhibiting artists and collectives include:

Amina Ahmed, Jane Addams / Hull House, Barby Asante, Alice Constance Austin, Xenobia Bailey, Glenn Belverio (Glennda Orgasm), Shirley Bruno, Micha Cárdenas, CARYATIDS (Chicks in Architecture Refuse to Yield to Atavistic Thinking in Design and Society) (Carol Crandall, Kay Janis and Sally Levine), Carolina Caycedo, Judy Chicago, Phyllis Christopher, Jackie Collins and Pat Garrett, Jamie Crewe, Blondell Cummings, Gille de Vlieg, Dyke Action Machine!, Gran Fury, Feminist Land Art Retreat, Guo Fengyi, fierce pussy, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Eduardo Gil, Anna Halprin, Rachael House, Hayv Kahraman, Corita Kent, Donna Kukama, Suzanne Lacy with Corey Madden, Zoe Leonard, Mary Lowndes, Kristin Luke and Minna Haukka, Vali Mahlouji / Archaeology of the Final Decade, with works by Kaveh Golestan, Alex Martinis Roe, Barbara McCullough, Ana Mendieta, Ad Minoliti, Ni Una Menos, Josèfa Njtam, Okwui Okpokwasili, Albert Potrony, Brenda Prince, Queer Yale Archive / YAMP (Yale AIDS Memorial Project), Raju Rage, Tabita Rezaire, Monica Ross, Lala Rukh, Zorka Ságlová, Victoria Santa Cruz, See Red Women’s Workshop, Judy Seidman (Medu Art Ensemble), Tai Shani, Pamela Singh, Monica Sjöö, Terence Smith (Joan Jett Blakk), Linda Stupart, Ramaya Tegegne, Jala Wahid, Faith Wilding, Women Against Pit Closures, Zadie Xa, Osías Yanov.

Screening programme including works by:

Ayo Akingbade, Cigdem Aydemir, Club Ate (Justin Shoulder & Bhenji Ra), Colectivo Los Ingrávidos, Bryony Gillard, Sophie Hoyle, Carlos Motta, Laura Phillips, Lis Rhodes, Victoria Sin & Sophia Al-Maria, Tanya Syed, Tourmaline & Sasha Wortzel, Bárbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca.

Archival research and curation by:

Amy Budd, Albert Potrony, D-M Withers.

Exhibition design by:

f-architecture.

The exhibition is a collaboration between Nottingham Contemporary, De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea, and Arnolfini in Bristol; and is curated by Irene Aristizábal (Head of Curatorial and Public Practice, BALTIC), Rosie Cooper (Head of Exhibitions, De La Warr Pavilion), and Cédric Fauq (Curator, Nottingham Contemporary), with Kieran Swann (Head of Programme, Arnolfini) for Act 3.

Description of the image at the top of the page: A photo of a female figure with green skin sits cross-legged among three plumes of orange smoke.

Opening times
Still I Rise: Feminisms, Gender, Resistance, Act 3 is open 14th September to 15th December
Tuesday-Sunday, 11am – 6pm.
Closed on Mondays.

Admission is free and there is no need to book.

Visitor information

Content warnings

Still I Rise contains themes and images of the oppression, violence and traumas that women, trans and non-binary people across the world experience.

This exhibition contains some nudity and sexualised content. There are also references to violence, rape, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, ableism, racism, war, death and the AIDS epidemic.

For more information or details of the locations of these works please contact a member of our Visitor Services Team.