A Box of One’s Own: Women Beyond Borders showcases the transformative gift of the archives and artworks from the multisite, cross-cultural exhibition project, Women Beyond Borders. Women Beyond Borders was founded by UCSB alum, Lorraine Serena (B.A. ’63, M.F.A. ‘75) in 1991. The project started with a small wooden box (measuring 3 1/2 by 2 by 2 1/2 inches) and an enticing invitation to women around the world—to transform this small container to one's liking. More than 900 people across 50 countries accepted it. The exhibition explores how Women Beyond Borders fostered experimental spaces for doing-it-yourself and doing-it-together, highlighted artistic media often dismissed for being in the realm of women, and challenged—through feminist practice and collectivity—hurdles for artistic freedom and expression in a wide array of geopolitical contexts.

A Box of One’s Own: Women Beyond Borders is organized by the Art, Design & Architecture Museum at UC Santa Barbara and is curated by Letícia Cobra Lima, UCSB History of Art & Architecture Ph.D. candidate. 

The audio tour for A Box of One’s Own was created by the AD&A Museum interns: Allison Angel, Yuriko Chavez, Judy Deatherage, Vanessa de la Rosa, Yueshan Gu, Marissa Healy, Carly Lankarani, Dexter LaViolette, Angelica Monroy, Ryann Nelson, Sara Paiz, Caroline Payne, Sarah Rhoades, Colette Thiebaud, Alyssa Trudell, and Hanna Zorilla under the guidance of Alida Jekabson, Internship Program Coordinator, with support from Marissa Healy.

Timestamps:
Introduction by the Curator
00:00

Lillian Mary Nabulime (b. Uganda, 1963)
My Self, 1995
01:38

Rosalind Damaris Davies (birthplace and life dates unknown)
Carricka Lowley Castle, 1999
03:25

Deborah Dallyn (b. United Kingdom, life dates unknown)
Untitled, 1997
05:12

Pacita Abad (b. Philippines, 1946–2004)
Gatot Kaca's House, 1998
06:52

Sandra Ramos (b. Cuba, 1969)
Aves Migratorias, 1995
08:44

Namakau Nalumango (b. Zambia, 1957)
The Grass Suffers, 2000
10:09

Leonor Rigau de Carrieri (b. Argentina, 1931)
Constructivismo Desconstructivismo, 1995
12:07

Claudine Lapique (b. France, 1952)
Gossip Box, 1995
13:56

Image: Jenny Marketou, Amazons of the Next Millennium (1996), 2023.005.160, Women Beyond Borders Art Collection founded by Lorraine Serena, the Art, Design & Architecture Museum, UC Santa Barbara.

A Box of One's Own: Women Beyond Borders - Audio Tour

AD&A Museum Education

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