Other women?

No single exhibition could ever 'repair' the neglect of centuries. Selection for inclusion always means exclusion, too. The selections here were constrained by the size of the volume, and portraits were therefore allocated diverse roles in the exhibition. Some flag landmark characters, signposts for a transition or a line of thought. Others tease out the stereotypical roles or statuses: mother, wife, daughter, loyal assistant, unnamed secretary, ‘the first woman’. Doubling of efforts was avoided when excellent recent work already existed.
More women...

The networks, affiliations, knowledge, linguistic competences and other

circumstances of the contributors and the curator affected the selection. All visitors

to the exhibition are likely to come up with women who were, again, excluded or feel

that a particular portrait should rather hang in another hall, a higher floor, a different

corridor. The exhibition does not complete any of its objectives fully, it only marks a

start of a general, systematic mapping and analysis of ‘women in international law’.

The temporary exhibition’s aim of bringing under the benevolent presumption of

professional and intellectual value a broader, more heterodox imagery of ‘international

lawyers’ is, however, permanent: it wishes to bestow recognition and authority

not only to those portrayed, but others who should have been included. All

visitors are therefore issued an invitation for a continuous re- curation: please join

the workshop of hands- on- activities and produce a portrait of your ancestor(s) in

international law or those of your next-door intellectual neighbour.