TAKING SPACE -disrupted- [The City]

Taking Space is a chance for women to run together, to take up more space, to put our bodies where they aren’t expected to be - especially in cultural institutions.

Our previous events have included a talk. We've been hosted by institutions, invading them with our running, our sweaty bodies and a little sprinkle of subversion- this is very intentional, about where women are meant to be, and where they are not. We have taken space at the Newcastle Contemporary Art Gallery and the Whitechapel Gallery. For disrupted, we were back in the city, right in the city of London- there are many rules here, the architecture is built by men, its scale is oppressive, phallic and masculine, everything seems to reflect like a mirror, you are being watched, you are made to feel small.

THIS EVENT, we just wanted to be disruptive, we didn't want to ask for permission. We wanted to claim space, enjoy space, without anyone dictating this. We can make change through this very act of running by challenging what is expected of us as women, by showing solidarity against violence, pushing back against fear whether real or unrealised.

The route was designed and curated to capture spaces traditionally ‘feared’ and to take them back. We also passed through spaces of joy, and created space to move together.

Taking Space is a curated research platform for women’s collective movement and sharing to understand the gendered limitations in public space and what can be done to create change.

Taking Space-disrupted- was held in February 2024 and donations were received from the running community, a total of £649 was raised for Free to Run, a charity that works to create safe spaces for women to run in areas of conflict.

TAKING SPACE -disrupted- [The City] was co-curated with Iona Morton.