Rose Finn-Kelcey

This sculpture relates – a two-day performance Finn-Kelcey made with two magpies in the window space of Acme Gallery, London in 1976. Finn-Kelcey spent her time in the space talking to the pair of magpies, offering them food and objects. She commented: ‘I wanted to talk about the potential for another language, apart from the existing one that we tend to feel is the only one…and through that talk about a potential for women having a voice’. This reflected a broader attempt by women in the 1970s to challenge the centrality of an authoritative ‘male voice’.