Feminist adult education and a feminist exhibition: the case of Disobedient Women

Abstract This article focuses on the feminist design, content and pedagogical impact of a multi-media research exhibition I curated entitled Disobedient women: Defiance, resilience and creativity past and present. Through the conceptual frameworks of feminist adult education and feminist exhibtionary praxis, I discuss the development and design of the exhibition and then share findings from a study that aimed to unearth the learning made possible for visitors by viewing the exhibition’s stories and images. Findings show that as Disobedient Women instructed intentionally about gender injustice past and present, it made possible new interpretations, meaning making and cross-cultural connections; as the exhibition illustrated a deeply problematic gendered world its playfulness and beauty challenged assumptions about activism and feminism and encouraged hope and aesthetic agency. While important challenges and critiques were raised, I argue that intentional, participatory feminist exhibitions such as Disobedient Women are valuable processes of feminist adult education because they open up possibilities of seeing and thus knowing things differently and acting in the interests of gender justice and change.