Locating Sylvia Pankhurst

by Joan Ashworth

 

Methods of research

Archives
Interviews
Exploratory experimental animation
  • Cotton mill worker
  • Prison sketch
  • Skirt and shoes
  • Books
Experiential activism

 

 

 

 

Interviews

At my first meeting with Richard Pankhurst I recorded the session with audio only. I was horribly underprepared as I had only just begun the project but I wanted to meet with him before he returned to Addis Ababa where he lives. The following summer, I was much more prepared. I had written my letter to Sylvia. I read some of this letter to Richard Pankhurst, and asked him if he would also write a letter to his mother, Sylvia, for me. Astonishingly, he agreed. I returned later in the summer with a cinematographer and filmed him reading his letter.