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Red for Uploaded Files and Exhibition Page

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Red for Uploaded Files and Exhibition Page

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Tattle. Hearsay. Gossip. Whichever you prefer, the names assigned to female communication have been used as a form of invalidation for centuries. From social events of the 1700s to modern online spaces, these words create a bias used to encourage women to alter the ways they present themselves. Usually, for the comfort of men. But, in recent years, communities negatively impacted by these biases have begun reclaiming and reinventing this language. It’s important to create spaces in which to discuss these impacts and provide the chance for connection and growth. Spaces not too dissimilar from the humble tea party. These acted as one of the first spaces where women were free to talk more openly. A place where they could bring all kinds of ‘tea’ to the table.

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Connection to the modernity

Housemaid's imagination of the future of tea parties

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Scenario

the day of the tea party, the maid is getting the house ready to receive guests

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rethink the order of the objects and their connection to the big idea

press content preparation

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Tattle. Hearsay. Gossip. Whichever you prefer, the names assigned to female communication have been used as a form of invalidation for centuries. From social events of the 1700s to modern online spaces, these words create a bias used to encourage women to alter the ways they present themselves. Usually, for the comfort of men. But, in recent years, communities negatively impacted by these biases have begun reclaiming and reinventing this language. It’s important to create spaces in which to discuss these impacts and provide the chance for connection and growth. Spaces not too dissimilar from the humble tea party. These acted as one of the first spaces where women were free to talk more openly. A place where they could bring all kinds of ‘tea’ to the table.

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your own tea party - what is the best social occasion for you?

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Why should we care? - using the past to re-examine the present

Today, there is still negativity around women’s communication styles, it has been seen as shallow and unserious. People (female, LGBTQ+ and so on) are affected by these negative stereotypes. In consequence, their communication is invalidated, therefore their stories go unheard.

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target audience: female university students from 18 to 30 / LGBTQ+ groups

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How to connect big idea with tea party?

Tea parties as the platform where the objects demonstrate different forms of female communication so as to legitimise the idea of ‘gossip’ as an important form of female communication during the period.

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Women’s communication has been negatively framed as ‘gossip’ by men in historical narratives. We want to reclaim gossip to demonstrate how it was a legitimate form of communication within female spaces.

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reclamation of female communication

Gossip as synonymous with tea (from the slang "spilling the tea")

Further researches: origins of ‘tea’ as a word for gossip

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Character

Housemaid to a wealthy household who observes the upperclass female interactions from a distance.

That distance is the vital connection between indulgence and exploitation. She sees the products being brought into the house – they aren’t as abstracted to her as they are for the wealthy women.

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Focus the voice on the radical element of female communication through tea parties, it was a challenge to the patriarchal set up of society. How can we make this come out through the character?

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Group Meeting 08 Week 10 / 3.12.2024 / Finishing Work

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Group Meeting 08 Week 10 / 3.12.2024 / Finishing Work

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two parallel narratives - exploited and the exploiting

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interactive potentials - assigned roles based on audience's choice

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Interative content:

Where do the interactive elements fit in the narrative?

Build your own tea party quiz to end – which painting of a tea party are you?

Make a painting jigsaw that brings information together?

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Possible voice for the narratives:

a female, upper-middle class voice, maybe taking us through the set-up of their tea party. Find a voice that brings in the audience

a separate parallel voice that explores exploitation and Empire

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Objects Notes

Oil paintings: 1 + 1 loan

Fashion: 3

Ceramics: 3

Accessories: 1 + 1 loan

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topic switch: from Fashion to Tea and Tea Party

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York Castle Museum

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THEME: tea culture (fashion relevant)

(fashion relevant, see what comes next) and possible big idea options behind it which we just brainstormed as many as possible (middle)

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After the Interpretation Week2 / Week 3 classes which illustrate more about Big Idea behind the exhibition, we started making more specific progress.

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our concerns:

project timeline

items quantity (10 or below)

loans (1-2)

main theme - is fashion good enough?

preparetory work (survey/questionnaire)

diversity - how to be coherent with the theme?

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periods in history

potential items

serious history undertone

social formation

other theme options

......

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a giant body of collection with low-quality pictures or no picture at all

urgent - pay visits to the venues in the weekend

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York Art Gallery

We visited the exhibition The Art of Wallpaper Morris & Co., however, it contains mostly decorative arts and the legacy of William Morris, and we were not allowed to take photo of the wallpaper (we still found one that might be suitable for potential poster). We also visited one routine exhibition, but not much content about fashion, mostly are fine arts in multiple forms.

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Yorkshire Museum

The exhibitions on site revolve around archaeology and history of the museum itself, plus a Jurassic exhibition.

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It is hardly possible to make an exhibition of contemporary art, what topics can we choose?

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Before our 1st meeting, we browsed through the website that contains all the venues of YMT and identified what we can do with the provided collection.

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1. Every member’s strength/weakness

2. Actions to take step by step

3. Questions we need to consult our tutor about

4. Current random ideas about collection

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poor image quality / no image at all

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a great number of historical items

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majorly British and York-related exhibits

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screenshot of the collection categories of York Museum Trust official site

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Fashion as the main topic

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the significance and usage switched among oriental and western countries

tea gestures - dominant figures in the tea party

different kinds of Chinese fans (industrialized similar ones and hand made one) during tea-related ocassions

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York Castle Museum / Shaping the Body: Fashion, Food, Life.