The exhibition was curated by Penelope Haralambidou, John Cruwys and Domo Baal. Private view 4 February 2020. Photography: Andy Keate.
From: Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, 1404, trans. Rosalind Brown–Grant. London: Penguin, 1999:
"The female sex has been left for a long time now, like an orchard without a wall, and bereft of a champion to take up arms in order to protect it."
"… For this reason, we three ladies whom you see before you have been moved by pity to tell you that you are to construct a building in the shape of a walled city, sturdy and impregnable."
"… You alone of all women have been granted the honour of building the City of Ladies. In order to lay the foundations, you shall draw fresh water from us three as from a clear spring. We will bring you building materials which will be stronger and more durable, than solid, uncemented marble. Your city will be unparalleled in splendor and will last for all eternity."
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Extract from: ‘The Female Body Politic: Remodelling the Book of the City of Ladies’ presented at Architecture & Collective Life, 16th AHRA conference 2019, Dundee.
Penelope Haralambidou: Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL.
The Book of the City of Ladies: The British Library.
Penelope Haralambidou: The Blossoming of Perspective, 2007.