Unsung hero

Kate Murdoch's limited edition medals invite people to acknowledge some of those who work for the good of their community. This idea provoked an immediate and passionate poem from Sue Turbet,  who remarked 'I discovered there are 73 statues of Queen Victoria in the UK…probably 69 too many. It’s time other women had their moments'.

The medals have been hung on railings, benches and posts in Looms Lane, Lower Baxter Street, Angel Hill, The Great Churchyard, Tuns Lane and Angel Lane.

Monuments 

Statues should be raised for strong women.
Ada / Beryl / Connie / Doris
Women who worked the land,
drove tractors, trams, rivets,
knotted headscarves, made do,
kept the home fires burning.

Women who said enough’s enough
Emmeline / Florence / Gertrude / Harriet
rattled teacups, raised eyebrows,
scattered censure like uprooted trees;
who hurricaned citadels,
crushed paper mountains underfoot,
made twisters from cigar smoke,
unafraid to say I want; stood firm
 - or sat, like Rosa on her bus -
camped at Greenham, marched.

And unsung women stitching lives together -
Irene /Julie / Kath / Lorraine/
Maggie / Nora / Olive / Pam
​child-rearers, shelf-stackers,
shift-workers, office-cleaners,
garment-stitchers, bottom-wipers,
toilet-scourers, food-packers,
dinner-makers, hand-holders
Queenie / Raji / Sonja / Tash
Ula / Val / Winnie / Xanthe 
Yasmina / Zulieka . 
Praise them.
 
Lynda Turbet 

Kate Murdoch is interested in objects as clear indicators of the passage of time. Wider themes of loss and remembrance run through her work, reflecting a fascination with the permanence of objects versus the fragility of human existence. The theme of value and worth is central to Murdoch's work and the objects presented open up opportunities for personal and political discussion around class, gender and privilege. She has exhibited as part of the Whitstable Biennale, Deptford X, Frieze Art Fair, and at galleries including Transition, Firstsite, WW and APT. Murdoch was awarded the Shape Open prize in 2016, and her award winning work, selected by Yinka Shonibare, is in the Shape Arts permanent collection.http://www.katemurdochartist.com Twitter @katemurdochart Instagram @katemurdochartist Facebook Kate Murdoch

Lynda Turbet observes the world from North Norfolk and tries make sense of it all through writing.