Re-Membering Music Worlds: Exhibiting the Rebel Women of Manchester’s Suffragette City

Abstract

This paper addresses a lack of scholarly focus on intersections of memory, gender, and the popular music archive. To challenge the underrepresentation of women, reparative actions must be collaborative, formative, and future-facing. The Rebel Music project sought to elevate women’s and LGBTQ+ people’s seldom heard voices involved in Manchester music, and to redevelop a digital archive to better engage users from these groups. Physical and digital exhibitions were devised to do this, including the Suffragette City portrait exhibitions. By centering women’s experiences and knowledge, it is possible to contribute to what we call re-membering music worlds in more gender-inclusive ways.