Women of Sierra Leone
4 March 2011 to 15 April 2012 Free entry
An exhibition of 42 portraits by British photographer Lee Karen Stow, including photographs taken in summer 2010 which have not been shown before. The photographs pay tribute to the strength, resilience and beauty of the women of Sierra Leone.
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Copyright Lee Karen Stow
The legacy of the slave trade
During the period of the transatlantic slave trade, Bunce Island in Sierra Leone was of one of the largest slave forts in West Africa. By the late 18th century, as the abolition of the slave trade approached, Sierra Leone was chosen as a location for a new colony for former slaves and the capital of Freetown was founded.
Today the United Nations ranks Sierra Leone as one of the poorest countries in the world. In 2002 the country emerged from an 11 year civil war in which many of its people were killed, maimed, raped and displaced. Despite improvements in infrastructure, overseas aid and investment, the country suffers from abject poverty and high unemployment.
Conditions for women
Women especially face immense hardship, lacking equal access to education, economic opportunities and their rights to life and health. Every year thousands of women die, needlessly, giving birth. Violence against women is common. Female genital mutilation causes infection and death. Displaced girls resort to prostitution for income.
The 42 photographs in this exhibition capture the many emotions experienced by these women including courage and, most importantly, hope.
From a basket carried on her head this beautiful young woman sells charcoal to light the fires and cooking pots of Kroo Bay in Freetown, Sierra Leone, a slum to several thousand people.
Copyright Lee Karen Stow__________________________
Interview with Lee Karen Stow
In this short video Lee Karen Stow talks about the exhibition and the women in Sierra Leone who inspired it.
All the photographs featured in the video © Lee Karen Stow. Read a transcript of this interview.
The woman I am
In January 2011 Lee Karen Stow led a week of photography workshops at the International Slavery Museum with the Women Asylum Seekers Together group in Liverpool. In this video she talks about the project and you can have a look at the online exhibition of photos taken during the project, 'The woman I am' on this website.
Read a transcript of this interview.
Look11 photography festival
This exhibition is part of Liverpool's first ever international photography festival, Look11. Further information is on the Look11 website.
