The Feminist Lecture Program is excited to announce a brand new collaboration with the Vagina Museum! The same amazing online weekly feminist content you expect from us, now hosted by the world’s only bricks and mortar Vagina Museum!
CLASS DESCRIPTION
Disney films have historically been built of images of women - those iconic, if deeply problematic Disney Princesses. Yet the animation world has historically been overwhelmingly male dominated, and when women have fought their way into this space their work has often been uncredited and their careers short.
Mary Blair (1911 - 1978) was a remarkable exception to this rule, an artist, illustrator and designer who played a key role in shaping some of Disney’s most iconic images. Through her work as a concept artist and art director on classics such as Dumbo, Cinderella, Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, Blair pushed the boundaries of the genre. Blair’s influence pulses through contemporary animated film and although you might not know, you’ve almost definitely encountered Blair’s work already. Her distinctive style and unique use of colour helped elevate animation to the status of art, laying the groundwork for our current Golden Era of the form.
In this richly illustrated lecture, archive activists Invisible Women will present the story of Blair’s life and career, contextualising her work within the history of US animation and Disney Studios. We will dive into the many influences that fed into Blair’s creative practice, discussing how surrealism, classical ballet, contemporary fashion design and gothic architecture fed into her spellbinding imagery. We will also explore how a fateful government funded propaganda trip to South America had a lasting impact on her artwork, and how her personal demons - including struggles with relationships, mental health and addiction - brought an edge of darkness and melancholy to her fairytale worlds.
Most of all thought we will showcase and celebrate Blair’s magical artwork, offering an inspiring primer to a legendary artist. Prepare to be enchanted!
ABOUT OUR LECTURER
Invisible Women is an archive activist film collective which champions the work of women and filmmakers with marginalised identities from the history of cinema through screenings, events and editorial.
Since their first event in 2017, the collective have screened film programmes sourced from collections around the world at cinemas, festivals and galleries across the UK and Europe. They have presented events and screenings with partners including Edinburgh Art Festival, Flatpack Birmingham, A Kind of Seeing, CinemaAttic, Cinema Rediscovered, London Short Film Festival, Glasgow Film Festival, HOME Manchester, EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam, Balkan Can Kino Athens, Sheffield DocFest, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Feminist Elsewhere’s Berlin and BFI Southbank.
In 2021, Invisible Women were invited to be part of Berlinale Talents. In 2022, they presented two shorts programmes, Touched and After Hours, co-curated with T A P E Collective which toured venues across the UK. They are also regular guest curators at Glasgow Film Theatre shaping their ongoing Cinemasters strand.
Alongside screenings, the collective research and write extensively about film history, appear regularly in Q&As, panels and podcasts, deliver workshops and send out a monthly newsletter. They also serve as archive consultants for film projects and are currently developing short film projects as co-producers.
The current members of Invisible Women are Camilla Baier, Lauren Clarke and Rachel Pronger.
Instagram: @invisiblewomen_archives
X: @IW_Archives
UPCOMING SESSIONS WITH THE FEMINIST LECTURE PROGRAM
Monday 4th March
Dr. Noam Yadin Evron
The Vulva's Pilgrimage: Myth and Meaning in Medieval Vulva Badges
Monday 11th March
Ruth Charnock and Karen Schaller
Witching the Institution: Academia and Feminist Witchcraft
Monday 18th March
Lucy Cade
Female Creatives and Spirit Photography in the 19th Century
Monday 25th March
Dr. Sheree Mack
The Women of the Black British Art Movement
Monday 1st April
Nina-Sophia Miralles
Vogue Magazine: Invention, Erasure, Perversity & Power
Monday 8th April
Camilla Baier, Lauren Clarke and Rachel Pronger
The Animation of Mary Blair: A Feminist's Guide to Disney
Monday 15th April
Lauren Peters
Fashion Before Plus-Size: Bodies, Bias, and the Birth of an Industry
Monday 22nd April
Ama Josephine Budge Johnstone
Intimate Ecologies: a Black feminist erotics for interspecies un/worlding
Monday 29th April
Joanna Ebenstein
The Anatomical Venus
Monday 6th May
Amina Nugumanova and Elmira Ismukhamedova
Women in Central Asian art: Preservation of Collective Heritage and Decolonisation
Stay tuned in to be the first to hear about our Summer term!
RECORDING
A recording of the lecture will be sent out by The Feminist Lecture Program after the event finishes, within 2 hours of the end of the class. This email will also contain any resources/reading list the lecturer shares.
Please add hello@feministlectureprogram.com to your email contacts to ensure you receive the recording as expected.
Please note that the recording will expire 7 days after sending.
PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Everyone is welcome to join this Pay-What-You-Can class. We suggest a donation of £20, however, we understand that may not be possible for everybody. Please be honest and pay what you can afford so that we can continue to offer our sessions on a donation basis.
MORE FLP…
Can’t get enough? The Feminist Lecture Program has our very own digital archive, where you can find some of the best past lectures from our back catalogue to rent and watch ON DEMAND. Check out our ever growing collection here: https://thefeministlectureprogram.vhx.tv/
Follow us on Instagram @thefeministlectureprogram
And check out our sustainable merch from FLP Studio at https://feministlectureprogram.com/shop & @flp__studio
And that's it!
We're really looking forward to you joining us.