Maria Balshaw on Museums (+ Tracey Emin, Frida Kahlo, and more!)

The Great Women Artists

Katy Hessel

Arts

4.8 • 877 Ratings

🗓️ 6 November 2024

⏱️ 44 minutes

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Summary

I am so excited to say that my guest on the GWA Podcast is Maria Balshaw. Currently serving as Director of Tate, a position she has held since 2017, Balshaw began her career as an academic and lecturer in cultural studies. At the dawn of the 2000s, she swapped this to become Director of Creative Partnerships, a government programme that aimed to develop creativity in young people by bringing schools and artists together, which was sadly cut after the Labour Government was replaced by the coalition. In 2006, she became the director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, and in 2011, took on the additional role of director of Manchester City Galleries, and, to cement her reign in Manchester, she was made Director of culture, while also earning herself a CBE. But it’s been under her premiership at Tate – as the historic institution’s first ever female director – where we’ve seen some of the most groundbreaking shows take place in recent years. From Women in Revolt, that explored the trailblazing work of feminist communities in Britain; Now You See Us: Women Artists 1520–1920, that essentially rewrote art history from a female perspective – and even introduced me to hundreds of names I hadn’t heard of; or Life Between Islands: Caribbean British Art from the 1950s to today. There’s been solo shows of Yoko Ono, Paula Rego, Zanele Muholi, Sarah Lucas, Cornelia Parker, and so much more – and… I’m sure more to come. Tate today is fizzing with great shows, an institution no doubt unrecognisable to when Balshaw first visited aged 16 when she came down to London on the train from her hometown, Northampton in search of modern art. Though she found the dizzying world of Bridget Riley, it was mainly the Picassos on the wall. And while that’s still good art, representation of different communities, cultures, genders and classes, is important. And there is no denying that having people in charge who are invested in the importance of this, has a huge impact on how art history has been and is being written – which Balshaw is at the centre of shaping. And, I am excited to say, she has just published a book, Gathering of Strangers, about museums: their origins, roles, and complexities, and the future of what they mean today. Here is a link to her new book! https://www.waterstones.com/book/gathering-of-strangers/maria-balshaw/9781849769136 -- THIS EPISODE IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY THE LEVETT COLLECTION: https://www.famm.com/en/ https://www.instagram.com/famm_mougins // https://www.merrellpublishers.com/9781858947037 Follow us: Katy Hessel: @thegreatwomenartists / @katy.hessel Sound editing by Nada Smiljanic Music by Ben Wetherfield

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everyone and welcome back to the Great Women Artists podcast.
0:05.0	Just before we get to today's episode, I am so excited to say that this series is again supported by the Levitt Collection,
0:12.0	a vast and varied art collection of which a major and ever-increasing portion is dedicated to works by women artists.
0:19.0	Today, there are over 600 works by women artists in the
0:23.1	collection. After publishing the must-have book, Abstract Expressionists, the women in 2023,
0:29.2	Christian Levitt went on to open on the 21st of June this year, FAMM, the first private museum in Europe,
0:36.3	entirely dedicated to women artists.
0:39.3	Located in Mujan, Nican in the south of France, this newly transforming space
0:44.4	features a stunning collection of over 100 masterpieces by many of the leading female artists
0:50.4	from impressionism to contemporary.
0:52.5	The impressive exhibition of paintings, sculptures,
0:56.3	photographs and more from the Levec Collection highlights the creative brilliance of women who have
1:01.3	played pivotal roles in shaping some of the major artistic movements of the modern period.
1:06.6	It's only 30 minutes from Nice Airport, FAMM, which stands for female artists on the Mujan Museum, is open every day and for further information and bookings, please visit www.fam.com.
1:20.4	I hope you enjoy this episode.
1:26.4	Hello everyone and welcome to the Great Women Artist podcast with me, Katie Hessel.
1:32.5	Some of you might know me from The Great Women Artists, an Instagram account I set up in October 2015,
1:38.3	which celebrates female artists on a daily basis, ranging from young graduates to old masters.
1:46.2	Well, in a similar fashion to the Instagram, this podcast is all about celebrating female artists from a variety of backgrounds and
1:51.9	histories. And I am so excited to be interviewing artists on their career or artists, writers,
1:57.8	curators or general art lovers on the women artist who means most of them.
2:02.4	What I want this podcast to do is celebrate female artists in all different capacities
	...

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