Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Women - Cocktail and Performance Evening copy

Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Women - Wednesday 8th March, 2023 6-9pm

Join us on International Women’s Day 2023 with the opening of our new exhibition, Ordinary Lives, Extraordinary Women. We will be celebrating the contributions that women have made to local culture - and the complex situations in which they did so. We will also be joined by two writers, living and working locally;

Meltem Arikan in Conversation

Meltem Arikan is a Turkish-Welsh feminist playwright and novelist.

She has dedicated her life to write against the Patriarchal system and to fight for freedom of speech and expression. She was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in 2019, and believes this has given her the ability and courage to critique systems that impact women’s rights. Her 2011 play, Mi Minör, has been accused of rehearsing the Gezi Park protests in Istanbul and beyond; she cannot return to Turkey as she is now facing a death sentence.

She has come to seek refuge and healing in the hills of Mid-Wales, using walking and her artistic practice to come to terms with her personal and political trauma.

Reading by Jay Griffiths

Jay Griffiths is the award winning writer of more than six critically acclaimed books, and has written for the Guardian, Orion Magazine, the Idler and co-authored the Extinction Rebellion manifesto. She is a fierce advocate for nature’s remaining wild places.

Her most recent work, Why Rebel, is a collection of essays that trips through the various devastations of our time; the resurgence of fascism, the mass loss of insect species and the impact of Covid-19 on our sense of, and rights to, freedom. It culminates in the story of her 2019 arrest as part of the Extinction Rebellion protest in Oxford Circus.

“If Bravery itself could write, it would write like she does.”

- John Berger, art critic and author of Ways of Seeing

“Jay Griffiths is a fearless adventurer with words. Her work isn’t just good - it’s necessary.”

- Phillip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials Trilogy

This event is free, but booking is highly advised.

We will also be serving hot drinks, cake and wine!

The exhibition is open on the 8th, 9th and 10th of March, 10-5pm, and covers local women’s history. You may be curious about the lives of women during the first and second world wars, rural ‘wise women’ and the services they provided for the local community, or hear the trailblazing exploits of local celebrities such as Emmeline Lewis-Lloyd, one of the first female mountaineers. You can also hear perspectives from local women today - and add your own, if you like.

We have another event on the same theme on Friday 10th March which requires seperate booking.