Spirited

The Spirited exhibition was held in Manchester in 2018 to mark 100 years since some women won the right to vote. It was designed as a positive, youth-focused celebration of gender equality, as well as a provocation to people young and old to think about the effects of social activism, and to embrace the opportunities that exist to make change. Spirited told the stories of some of the young women and girls who fought for the vote 100 years ago, centring on Manchester as the birthplace of the suffrage movement. It brought to life their incredible acts of courage, creativity and cunning in order to inspire today’s young people into taking their own first steps into social action. The exhibition featured items from the British Library, BBC archives, Women’s Library, Museum of London, Bishopsgate Institute, BFI and others. Together, they offered an exciting new perspective on the suffrage story, highlighting the spirited young women who brought about change. Alongside the exhibition we created a digital archive – see http://spirited.org.uk – as well as a set of learning resources so that the content continued to educate and inspire beyond the two-week period of the physical exhibition.