Sylvia Pankhurst: Artist Writer Fighter

A film by Joan Ashworth

5-6 July 2024

Standpoint was pleased to present Joan Ashworth’s mixed media film portrait of the artist and suffragette Sylvia Pankhurst.

The life of Sylvia Pankhurst (1882–1960) was full of hard petitioning leaving her little time to develop into the artist she could have become. A middle sister of a revolutionary family, Sylvia initially used her artist’s skills to stand out, winning scholarships to study first at Manchester Art School and then the Royal College of Art. But, fighting for votes for women, persuasive lecture tours in America, and supporting Ethiopia against fascism, diverted Sylvia into the tough world of politics, prison and resistance.

Encompassing experimental and exploratory animation techniques, film production processes, conference papers and public exhibition lectures, Ashworth’s project focuses on Pankhurst’s role in influencing political structures in the UK during a time of extraordinary change and revolution across Europe.

With the collaboration of artists Andrea G Artz and Laurie Hill, Ashworth’s film visually folds and weaves archive cut-outs of Sylvia, showing the modernist thinker inside her Victorian outer-shell, constantly evolving and changing over her long life. Viewers further encountered Pankhurst through hearing from those who knew her and worked with her. Richard, her only son, reads his letter to his mother, closing the account of his mother’s radical life dedicated to improving chances for others.

"Excavating a radical life, through an archive of vigorous drawings and papers left behind, gave a sense of Sylvia Pankhurst’s restless energy."

Joan Ashworth is a director and designer of animated films. She has worked in industry and academe for 28 years, directing commercials, title sequences and short films and conducting research. Until July 2015 she was also Head of the Animation Department at London's Royal College of Art.
She is also engaged with research into animation and health advising on how animation can be a valuable tool in exploring real world issues.

Sylvia Pankhurst: Artist Writer Fighter was shown on a loop. Film running time 34 minutes.