The aAh! Magazine X Lights Up Exhibition celebrates the achievements of women in cycling and supports inclusivity and visibility within our community

An art exhibition empowering Manchester’s female cycling community has been unveiled in Levenshulme’s Station South, following the city’s second annual Lights Up night-time cycle event.

The exhibition was created as part of the Lights Up cycling campaign led by Manchester’s cycling mayor Belinda Everett, which aims to challenge the underrepresentation of female cyclists and raise awareness of the issues they face day-to-day.

On 9 November, more than 150 women gathered at All Saints Park to embark on a night-time bike ride through the city centre to “reclaim the darkness” for female cyclists.

The exhibition was first held in Victoria Baths following the Lights Up bike ride, before it moved to Levenshulme. It features artwork, photography, and film projects made by Manchester Met students.

At the launch event held at Station South, Everett described the low number of female bike commuters as “disgusting”. She added: “Our roads are dominated in one direction and this needs to change. It shouldn’t be that and it’s the reason why we created the event in the first place.

“We call it an event-slash-campaign, which is to try and increase awareness and visibility of the fact that diversity in cycling has to massively change. Whether that’s through bike mechanics, whether it’s from urban planning, whether it’s from commuting, community, or elite, there has to be a massive shift.”

The event formed part of Manchester’s official European Capital of Cycling celebrations, and saw crowds of women and allies taking to the streets for a night-time bike ride across the city centre in an “illuminated, empowered collective.”

The launch saw Everett joined by members of the Station South and aAh! Magazine editorial team, as well as the student artists, poets, designers, journalists and filmmakers involved in bringing the exhibition to life.

Manchester School of Art graduate Lilibelle Anthony was among the 32 students featured in the exhibition. Anthony produced a series of intricate biro drawing documenting this year’s Lights Up route.

Speaking about what inspired her to join the project, Anthony said: “I liked the fact that it was about riding at night and exploring.”

She added: “I sort of wanted to make the city itself the character, and I love cross-hatching and I love biro pen. I thought I could capture the most interesting-looking routes of the journey in that style, and I think that’s worked.”

Anthony is not the first to answer an open call from aAh! Magazine for displays of talent – it’s a foundational aspect of the publication. Natalie Carragher, senior lecturer in Multimedia Journalism and creator of aAh!, shared her passion for the project and opportunities for students to work together from across the university, as well as external stakeholders.

Carragher said: “It’s been brilliant to launch the exhibition at Station South and to share our students’ work with a whole new audience. We’ve heard from Belinda Everett that local cycling groups are going to be organising group rides here just so that they can see the students’ work, which is incredible.

“We’re so proud of the students and of everything they’ve achieved as part of this project. It’s been an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women in cycling, to explore new narratives in sport and in cycling, and to promote inclusivity and visibility within our community.”

Reflecting further on the cross-disciplinary nature of the work and the opportunities this project has generated for students, she added: “Across every aAh! Magazine project our students collaborate on, we see a richness in the work that stems from the unique cross-disciplinary approach we take.

“Not only is the quality of their work stronger, but I am so, so passionate about our journalists building a network by the time they leave university.

“We have students take part who are incredibly driven to break into the industry and develop a professional portfolio. But we also have students who are simply looking to find their community – to meet others with shared interests, make friends and build a creative social network. The magazine is a fantastic opportunity to do all of that.”

Lights Up plan to host another group cycle planned for International Women’s Day in March. Following the success of this year’s event, Everett said: “I’m really proud of how it went. The people are really proud of how it went. And hopefully, all this being well, we want it to continue. But the aim is for Lights Up not to exist.

“I don’t want Lights Up to keep carrying on, because at the end of the day, more women and young girls are riding at night as well as riding during the day, so hopefully it’ll be great to know in the future that we’re not doing Lights Up.”

The aAh! Magazine X Lights Up exhibition will run at Station South until 19 December, 2024.