Collecting and curating the material culture of contemporary women's bodies

This project investigates the function and value of material culture associated with contemporary women’s experiences of health, such as menstruation, fertility and contraception.

Drawing on recent work in LGBTQ+ and health activism, I will systematically research related objects in the Science Museum’s collection, share my findings through the museum’s online public engagement networks, identify further areas for collecting, and create a collecting proposal for consumer products designed to control, restore or facilitate bodily functions.

This project asks four questions: What is the material culture of contemporary women’s experiences with health, and how does it fit into museum collections? What types of objects should be collected to represent the contemporary material culture of this theme? How can these objects be used in public engagement work in the present and the future?

How can they be used to support ongoing efforts to break cultural taboos about women’s health and bodies in the context of museums?

An analysis of these objects and their collection will shed light on their historical significance and reveal new ways that they might be used to highlight experiences of women’s health and medicine in the past, present and future.