Rooms Of Our Own: The Lockdown House
Virtual Exhibition

Immerse yourself in a dynamic, digitally curated exploration of women's perspectives during the first lockdown of 2020 with our 3D Virtual Exhibition, 'Rooms Of Our Own: The Lockdown House'. This enlightening exhibition is a product of an AHRC funded collaborative research project, a joint venture helmed by esteemed Professors Lucie Armitt (University of Lincoln), Krista Cowman (University of Leicester), and Sarah Pedersen (Robert Gordon University).

Experience the heart of the UK from your own home. This online exhibition, freely accessible from any device, shines a light on women's documented responses to the first lockdown across all four devolved nations of the UK. Utilising the exceptional design and production talents of V21 Artspace, the exhibition unfolds across two everyday settings: a 'Suburban House and Garden' and a 'City High Rise Flat'.

Step into each room, filled with interactive elements that encapsulate the key aspects of women’s lockdown experience. A click on each item reveals a story, an emotion, a moment. Your journey through the lockdown is at your fingertips, waiting for you to discover.

Launched on 28 June 2023, by Giles Watling MP in the historic Churchill Room at the House of Commons, 'Rooms Of Our Own: The Lockdown House' pays tribute to the resilience and adaptability of women across the UK during unprecedented times.

As you navigate through the hall, we warmly invite you to leave your reflections in our digital 'Visitor Book'. Your feedback is instrumental in fostering the growth and future direction of our research and exhibitions.

A century ago, Virginia Woolf delivered a series of lectures to female students at Girton College, Cambridge, which a decade later were published in book form as A Room of One’s Own. In that book, Woolf argues that, in order to write, ‘a woman must have money and a room of her own’. When Woolf forged that initial, visionary connection between women, writing and space, she envisaged it as a positive opportunity to allow women’s creativity to flourish in a space they have commonly considered to be their own: the home.

Between March and May 2020, however, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK Government issued a directive insisting that all UK citizens should stay at home. Commonly known as ‘lockdown’, this project explores the differing effects the directive had upon women and men, measured through the stories women told about those first 12 weeks. Statistically, domestic violence rates doubled during the first three weeks of lockdown (Women’s Aid, ‘Counting Dead Women’). Given that women in the UK perform 60% more unpaid labour than men (ONS 2016), women were disproportionately affected by the competing demands of work and home schooling. Even academic periodicals quickly recorded that submissions from female authors dropped noticeably in proportion to their male colleagues (Flaherty, 21 April 2020).

The project therefore investigates the impact of lockdown on women’s writing in that early period of lockdown. How did lockdown impact on women’s experience of writing, what they wrote about and when and where they wrote?

Professor Armitt explains, “The project will explore published fiction and poetry, blogs and social media posts, newspaper articles, features and oral history archives. It will also include creative writing produced in our project partner Liv Torc’s bespoke creative writing workshops for the project.”

Our special thanks go to Dr Ed Downey from the University of Lincoln, whose initial vision sparked the project. V21 Artspace co-founders, Claire Cutts and Joe Clark, also extend their gratitude to their outstanding colleagues, Laith Isa and Rana Issa. Their tireless dedication and remarkable skills have brought to life a project of unique significance.

Embark on this journey through 'Rooms Of Our Own: The Lockdown House' and immerse yourself in the collective strength, creativity, and resilience of women during lockdown.

Find out more: womenwritinglockdown.co.uk

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