The Feminist Library 35th Birthday Benefit: Celebrating 35 years of archiving and activism

The Feminist Library celebrates 35 years
of archiving and activism with a bumper birthday benefit,
presenting a fabulous line-up of feminist performers, including

Viv Albertine, Martha & Eve, Trash Kit, Lorraine Jordan, Julie McNamara,
Women Sing East with Laka D, Girl Germs DJs.

Stalls, drinks, cakes! Accessible venue.
Tickets £5/£10/£15.

All ages and genders welcome.
http://www.feministlibrary.co.uk
19 February 2011· 19:00 – 23:00
The Round Chapel, Powerscroft Road, Hackney, London, E5 OPU

The Feminist Library, which is based in Waterloo, was founded in 1975 to preserve the (often ephemeral) literature of the women’s liberation movement. Since then it has expanded from being a humble shelf of books in a small basement room, to become the largest library of second wave and contemporary feminist material in the UK, with approximately 10,000 books, 1500 periodical titles, 1200 articles, and more than 2000 pamphlets and ephemera.

We are proud to have survived from the early days of the Women’s Liberation Movement, and to still be going today. We have benefitted greatly from the recent upsurge in radical feminist activism, and are proud that our current management committee spans the generations from women in their 20s to one of the library’s original founders.

At a time when public libraries and the whole education sector are under threat, it is vital to protect invaluable archives such as the Feminist Library collection, which document the UK’s strong tradition of social protest.

We are celebrating this landmark anniversary by having a massive party on 19th February, with a range of fabulous performers:

The benefit aims to celebrate our past achievements, to bring the library to the attention of a wider audience, and, of course, to raise lots of money so that we can carry on the good work of collecting and archiving contemporary and historical material. Among our current projects are: completing our digital catalogue, so that is will be available online; increasing outreach to our local community, and engaging school children and young people with our collections and women’s history in general; ensuring that our reference collection is secure and adequately conserved for future generations.

More information about our Performers:

    Viv Albertine: The former Slits guitarist returns with new material. “The post-Slits-y lo-fi and lyrical honesty of Flesh should win her more than a few followers.” The Quietus
    Trash Kit: “The sound of three women battle-crying in harmony and sketching out urgent, concentrated scuttle-funk miniatures is a sound that needs to be heard, periodically and necessarily.” The Quietus
    “A Fine Undertaking (1984), ironically set in a funeral parlour, caused her lesbian audience to weep with laughter as she slyly parodied our political meetings.” The Guardian
    “Julie McNamara has been hailed as a punk folk singer, a wicked wit and a serious comic. Whatever she pulls out of the bag she never fails to entertain.” Metro
    Women Sing East: The legendary East-London singing group for women, led by inspirational jazz singer and workshop leader Laka D.
    Lorraine Jordan: “Her song Dreamers could have been penned by Sandy Denny, Sweet Mystery by Nick Drake and Your Love by Joan Armatrading – but they’re all her own. Her songs rank among the finest of their genre, and deserve recognition.” Living Tradition. “A celtic softness wraps itself around these ballads like a warm blanket” BBC Radio Scotland
    Martha & Eve: Formerly known as Donna & Kebab, the music/comedy duo are ready to delight. “Exhilarating rhythms, stunning songs.” The Guardian

Tickets will available on the night and in advance from our website, and can be reserved by calling 020 7261 0879. Tickets will be £5 students/unwaged, £10 waged, £15 higher waged. http://feministlibrary.co.uk/2011/01/06/anniversary/

    The venue is fully accessible.
    We will be running a licensed bar, with cakes too.
    Friendly feminist people of all ages and genders are welcome.

http://www.feministlibrary.co.uk
http://twitter.com/#!/feministlibrary
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145123035542582

Would you like a stall at the event? Get in touch with admin@feministlibrary.co.uk

Would you like to volunteer before or at the event? A list of available roles is here: http://feministlibrary.co.uk/2010/12/29/hiring/ /
email volunteer@feministlibrary.co.uk for more details.

Posted 9 February, 2011 (16:46) | Events |