Contemporary Art in Scotland: Franki Raffles Study Day

'Franki Raffles: Observing Women at Work' was a paper presented as part of 'Franki Raffles Study Day' at University of St Andrews, an event organised by Dr Catherine Spencer. The paper discussed the curatorial decisions in presenting Raffles' work in the 2017 exhibition 'Franki Raffles: Observing Women at Work', Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art. It then contextualised Raffles' work within wider field of second wave feminist art practice that examined womens' labour and working conditions, including The Hackney Flashers Collective, Berwick Film Collective, Mary Kelly and Jo Spence. Given that Raffles' work has been missing from a reappraisal of this period, the paper concluded in assessing aspects of Raffles' photography that give a unique insight and comment on labour, gender and class. This study day, organised by the Contemporary Art in Scotland Tate British Art Network sub-group and the St Andrews Centre for Contemporary Art, bought together recent research on the feminist documentary photographer Franki Raffles, who produced a significant body of material during the 1980s and 1990s addressing the experiences of women workers in Scotland and globally. It explored Raffles’ career and its wider connections with activism, documentary and photographic practice from the 1980s to the current moment, featuring presentations, discussions, and a viewing session of material from Raffles’ archive in the University's Photographic Special Collections.