Deeds not words, an exploration into the women’s suffrage movement in Ulster through the fashion and freedom project

Abstract. This research project is the result of collaboration with the Tex-tile Art, Design and Fashion Course Students, Residents and Staff and the Belfast International Arts Festival. The 14-18 Now Art Centenary Art Commissions set a student project for a number of Fashion courses in Eng-land to produce work around the theme of Fashion and Freedom looking at Restriction and Release and the changing shape of women’s garments pre 1914 and between the war years. The selected student work was exhibited over 2017 at a number of high profile exhibition events and Galleries. The Textile Art, Design and Fashion Course at the request of Belfast Interna-tional Arts Festival, were asked to bring a local dimension to the project. The focus was the women’s Suffrage movement in Ulster. Work produced by staff, residents and students was then exhibited at the Belfast Interna-tional Arts Festival. The focus of this research paper is based on the discov-ery that my Grandmother had been a part of the suffragette movement in Belfast during this period, and this research culminated in designing and knitting a dress as homage to her entitled Lizzie. This paper discusses the historical project, the creative process and the diverse outcomes in the con-text of the history of the suffragette movement in Ulster. It also references the use of fashion and textiles on that journey to emancipation, with the mantra Deeds not Words.
Keywords: Textiles, Fashion, Education.