Dr Mari Takayanagi is Senior Archivist in the Parliamentary Archives and Co-Curator for ‘Voice and Vote: Women’s Place in Parliament’. Mari has worked in Parliament since 2000 and completed her PhD on Parliament and women in 2012. #AskACurator
I'm often asked what my favourite items in the collection are. It's so hard to choose just one so I wanted to share some with you today. Feel free to ask me any questions about our archives and my work. #AskACurator
This watercolour from 1821 is on loan from our friends @ShakespeareBT. Discovered by a researcher via @Twitter a few years ago. It shows the view from the Ventilator, an octagonal structure in the attic space above the @HouseofCommons. Can you guess what it was for? #AskACurator
This space was where women watched proceedings through a ventilation shaft in the ceiling. Can you imagine what it must have felt like to peer down at the men below and listen to debates in a space like this? #AskACurator
I love this collection that once belonged to Alice Hawkins. She was a suffragette and a true working-class woman. She was a machinist at the Equity shoe factory in Leicester, a socialist and trade unionist, and a mother of six children. #AskACurator
She was a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union and imprisoned five times for her role in WSPU protests. Her collection of WSPU memorabilia is on public display for the first time in our Voice and Vote exhibition, on loan from her family. #AskACurator
I don’t think I would have been a suffragette, I wouldn't have been brave enough to break the law, go to prison, or go on hunger-strike. I like to think I would have been a suffragist, one of the peaceful campaigners. #AskACurator
The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS), led by Millicent Fawcett, organised mass petitions, huge marches, sent deputations to Parliament and lobbied MPs. I would have loved to help with that kind of thing. #AskACurator
💬"What’s your favourite item in the Parliamentary Archives?"
This suffragette banner dropped into the @HouseofCommons chamber from the Ladies’ Gallery during a protest by the Women’s Freedom League on 28 October 1908. #AskACurator
Helen Fox and Muriel Matters chained themselves to the Ladies’ Gallery and Violet Tillard lowered the banner into the chamber. The women were cut free and the banner put in a cupboard and forgotten about, rediscovered in the Serjeant at Arms office during the 1990s. #AskACurator
That's all from me. Thanks for reading. The 'Voice and Vote: Women’s Place in Parliament’ exhibition is open to the public Monday to Saturday until 6 October. Book your free ticket at parliament.uk/visit - Mari.
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We're #hiring a Head of #Conservation#Architecture who can
📐 oversee the strategy for building conservation
🏗️ keep the programme of conservation works up to date
😃 be a great team leader
Today is #AskACurator Day, and we have 3 specialist curators answering your questions on our Parliamentary Art, Historic Furniture and Architectural Fabric Collections! 🖼️🚪🪑
Let's hear your questions and their answers ⏬
First over to our Parliamentary Art expert Melanie 🎨🖼️✏️
💬 "How many works are hidden away in storage? Do they get put on display in rotation?" ❓
80% of our 9,000 artworks are on display - a high percentage compared to many museums. We do rotate the works on display - some are fragile and can only be displayed for short periods.