In Common

In 1981, a group of women set off on a 120-mile march from Wales to protest against the US cruise missile base at Greenham Common.

They stayed for 19 years.

Their movement is a symbol of creativity and commitment to creating change that echoes through to peaceful activism today.

Join us as we celebrate their stories through a new exhibition of rarely seen objects from our collection and an exciting series of events.

Inspired by Bradford '25 Capital of Culture, and the 25th anniversary of Greenham Common being returned to community ownership, In Common will facilitate engagement with the themes of peaceful activism, our objects, and our work as a whole.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

The Exhibition

Since reopening in our new space in August 2024, we have been moved by the amount of Greenham women who have come to visit our space and who have taken the time to share their memories and stories with us. We were compelled to create a space for other visitors to have the opportunity to be inspired by these women’s experiences and to learn from them in the present. It is the women’s own words which make this exhibition meaningful and make the objects in our collection come alive.

The exhibition displays objects from our collection that have not previously been displayed and includes photographs, newsletters, scrapbooks, songbooks, posters and banners.

On display will also be the film ‘Carry Home Greenham’ (1983). Beeban Kidron and Amanda Richardson spent seven months filming at Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp between December 1982 to June 1983. The film shows snapshots of daily life at the camp and the myriad of challenges the women faced. This 67 minute-long film will be played in their main exhibition area on a loop during opening hours. Courtesy of Concord Media.

We are also delighted to have the audio artwork ‘Chant Down Greenham’ (1984), by Irish artist Alanna O'Kelly, on loan from the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

At the heart of our exhibition is a participatory story web created by artist Alison McIntyre. This is a growing installation using the original fence from Greenham Common, repurposed to enable a visitors to adorn it with protest once again.

Event Programme

This exhibition will be supported with an exciting events programme filled with guests, speakers and activities. This will see a series of gatherings which unite communities and involves participatory family activities inspired by the collection.

The first event was our launch party to celebrate the opening of this exhibition. We were very excited to welcome our first two guests speakers at this event.

We were joined by Professor Fiona Macaulay, from the Department of Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, who discussed her own first-hand experiences of Greenham Common. We were also joined by Dr Alexandra Kokoli, (Associate Professor in Fine Art and Contextual Studies at Middlesex University and Senior Research Associate at the VIAD Research Centre, University of Johannesburg), who discussed ‘visual activism at Greenham Common and the symbol of the web’.

Peace Picnics

Throughout Summer, we have partnered with Bradford 2025 to host a series of free gatherings to celebrate peace, protest and community as part of The Beacon.

Our Peace Picnics are a nod to the action taken by Greenham women in 1983, when 200 women dressed as teddy bears entered the base to stage a protest picnic.

Bring some lunch, dress for the weather and join us for family-friendly activities and creative workshops inspired by peaceful activism.

We will be hosting the next Peace Picnics when The Beacon travels to Cliffe Castle Park and Lister Park, as well as a very special Peace Picnic in Roberts Park in Saltaire – dates to be announced soon.

Show and Tell

On Saturday 28th June, we will be hosting a 'Show and Tell' day at the museum, which will explore the material culture of Greenham Common. This will be comprised of two sessions featuring speakers from Glasgow Women's Library and The Women’s Library: London School of Economics’ Archive.

Using these collections as a starting point, the events will also include open discussions for attendees to discuss these objects together and share their own objects. To do this, we invite all attendees to bring along their own objects they would like to share at this ’show and tell’ event.

Join us for a day of sharing objects, memories and stories of resistance.

More Events

We will have more exciting events to announce for July, August and September very soon. This includes our 1 year anniversary party, banner making workshops, music and performances, and a closing event with Greenham Women Everywhere.

In Common will be displayed 5 June - 14 September 2025.