A new exhibition at Abergavenny Museum entitled ‘Monmouthshire Women Making a Change’ documents and celebrates how local women have challenged the position of women both in their own communities and beyond.

The exhibition has been curated as a result of previous displays that have taken place at the museum, One Hundred Years of Women’s Banners and the donation of documents and artefacts from the Abergavenny Peace Movement.

Museum volunteers Katrina Gass, Bethan Hopkins, Hannah James and Laura Dixon have worked with local groups, including Crafty Women and Love Zimbabwe and key individuals from Monmouthshire to curate the exhibition.

Sections of interest include suffrage, wartime, the 1980s peace movements, women’s support groups and examples of local women who have made a significant individual contribution to these movements.

Museum curator Rachael Rogers said, “The exhibition includes displays on many areas of history that have made an enormous impact on the world such as the First World War and the Suffrage movement. These themes are particularly relevant in the coming year as 2017- 18 is the commemoration period of the end of the First World War, an event that was such a catalyst for change in women’s lives, and the centenary of the 1918 Representation of the People Act which began to include women in the voting system.

“We plan to have many more events and activities at the museum in coming months to celebrate this fantastic exhibition.”

The exhibition has been generously supported by Eridge Park (The Nevill Estate), Hartsheath Charitable Trust and Gabb and Co.

Women Making a Change exhibition will be on display until March 11 2018. For more information about the exhibition and forthcoming events call into the museum, telephone 01873 854282, visit the Facebook Page ‘Abergavenny Museum’, or Twitter account @abermuseum