Tate Modern celebrates women who made a difference through protesting

Latest performance art piece celebrates 400 women involved in protests

Hundreds of women who took part in major protests over the last 50 years will be celebrated by the Tate Modern. The 400 women aged over 60, who have all been involved in protests in the last century, from student protests in the 1960s to Stop The War demonstrations pre-Iraq invasion, are taking part in Suzanne Lacy’s latest performance art piece, Silver Action.

Sitting at card tables in groups of four in the Tate Modern’s subterranean Tank performance space, the women will discuss what prompted them to become politically active.

The audience will be able to move between the tables, read transcripts of the conversations, tweets and blogged quotes.

At the same time, a panel of eight prominent feminist thinkers – including Ann Rossiter and Gillian Hanna – will sit around the ‘kitchen table’ elaborating on the history of women’s activism, its impact and what the future holds.

Lacy’s aim is to engage people in the debate surrounding ageing and the role of an ageing population. ‘I'm trying to shift the discourse away from one of isolation and increasing frailty: we should see older women as an amazing resource – not just talk about them taking resources' she says.

Silver Action takes place Sunday, February 3.

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