Saturday, January 12, 2013

Music & Liberation - and a 1980s feminist bookshop in New Cross

Tomorrow (Sunday 13 January, 12 to 6 pm) is the final day for the Music and Liberation exhibition at Space Station Sixty-Five (pictured), Building One, 373 Kennington Road, London SE11 4PS


The exhibition includes material from the Women's Liberation Music Archive, with zines, posters and recordings from the 1970s and 1980s feminist movement. The closing events include:

2.00 - 3.30pm:  A conversation between Barby Asante, founder of the South London Black Music Archive, and exhibition curator Deborah Withers about community memories, generational transmission and music. Chaired by Tom Perchard, author of Lee Morgan – His Life, Music and Culture.

3.45: Screening of the trailer for Hip-Hop Hijabis, with a brief presentation from Mette Reitzel.

4-5pm : Film showing of a documentary about The Gluts, who are comprised of Hayley Newman, Gina Birch and Kaffe Matthews. ‘The Gluts resist the current dismantling of culture and our welfare state – market-led solutions, corporate greed, millionaire government types, capitalism and their roles within climate change and its ongoing effect on our world and people. We want life, not death: education not poverty: fulfillment not oppression. We want libraries with books in them, a healthy health service and a global commons for everyone to share and enjoy, now and in the future!’ The film will be followed by a Q & A, and the showing of Gluts’ pop videos.

A 1980s feminist bookshop in New Cross

Looking through the material today, I found an advert in Woman Sound magazine (May 1984) for a New Cross feminist bookshop, Bookplus, at 27 Lewisham Way 'for all your feminist book requirements'. I've come across references to this shop before - the earliest from 1979 and the last from 1988, so it was presumably there for most of the 1980s. Most adverts though give the address as 23 rather than 27, with the name 'Books Plus' rather than 'Bookplus' (e.g. in Spare Rib in 1981 it is listed as 'Books Plus, socialist feminst bookshop'). Does anyone remember this place or know any more about it?


2 comments:

Unknown said...

Geoff gee here, Maureen's husband. Sadly she died in 2002. I will be happy to try to answer your questions. Books Plus was an oasis in New Cross. Visited by Maya Angelou and supplier of books to the feminist group at the University of Tanzania.

. said...

Good to hear from you Geoffrey, I understand that Maureen Gee was the manager of Books Plus, the feminist bookshop in New Cross. Would love to hear more about her and the shop. Perhaps you'd like to write an article about her? (my email is transpontine@btinternet.com)