After Rhodes storm, ‘male and stale’ Oxford wants more women on its walls
OXFORD University is commissioning portraits of female, black and gay icons to help counter its ‘male, pale and stale’ image.
It will hang dozens of politically correct paintings in its ancient buildings at a cost of £900 each. Students and staff have been asked to nominate suitable subjects by the end of this week.
In addition, colleges are already redecorating dining and lecture halls with new pictures and photographs to reflect the diversity of their alumni. In January a portrait of the first female Anglican bishop, the Right Reverend Libby Lane, was hung in St Peter’s College where she had studied.
Oxford has faced intense scrutiny over the presence of longstanding male symbols. Students campaigned unsuccessfully for the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, arguing that it was a reminder of apartheid.
Earlier this year the National Union of Students’ Black Students’ campaign described Oxford University as ‘one of the most male, pale and stale places of learning in Britain’.
It was revealed yesterday that a photograph of feminist and former Rhodes scholar, Naomi Wolf, will go on display in Rhodes House.
She said she left Oxford in the 1980s without finishing her doctorate after encountering ‘horrible’ sexism and anti-semitism, before returning more than 20 years later to complete it.
Miss Wolf told the Sunday Times: ‘In my college, New College, there are portraits of men everywhere. While pictures are not the same as gender or race equality, I do not think this is trivial. If all you see are white men, white men, white men, it is very hard to believe that people in your society think you have a place in history.’
Oxford said yesterday that as part of its Diversifying Portraiture project it had asked for suggestions for 25 fresh portraits of living figures connected to the university, representing its diversity in gender, race, disability and sexual identity. They should be ready for display early in the New Year.
It said the project ‘complements many similar initiatives undertaken by Oxford colleges in recent years’.