h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A few weeks ago, I attended the April Ashley exhibition in Liverpool http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/exhibitions/april-ashley/

It is an excellent and moving exhibition, telling April's story from her youth and struggles with her mental health (not least because of the way she was treated for being different) via her time as a cabaret artiste, to her as she is now.

There are display cases filled with memorabilia from her personal archives, plus a timeline of key dates in history of transgender people and in trans rights. There was also a section including the stories of younger transpeople, which was fascinating as well (especially as I have met three of the people involved).

The centrepiece of the exhibition is a mini replica of Le Carrousel, the Paris Cabaret where April worked for a time. Strangely, none of the other exhibition visitors wanted to sit at the cabaret tables, so the chairs were all moved to the back of the room, but I sat at a table and enjoyed watching the stage, which was actually a TV screen showing clips of April when she appeared on the chat show Parkinson, and a slideshow of photos from her personal collection.

I enjoyed more than an hour exploring the exhibition and learned a lot

[Amy P]

Deb