Exhibition Opening of 'Celebrating The Trainer: Women, Footwear and Freedom' By Jane Ogden

As a female-led arts organisation, New House Art Space is proud to present a programme for International Women’s Day 2026, spanning multiple events, workshops and an exhibition throughout March 2026.

Opening Reception 6 March 7-9pm, exhibition continues until the 6 April 2026

Coinciding with International Women’s Day, Celebrating The Trainer: Women, Footwear and Freedom explores women’s complex and often contradictory relationships with footwear, with a particular focus on the cultural rise of the trainer.

Drawing on personal experience and interviews with women, the exhibition examines how shoes shape women’s bodies, confidence and sense of freedom. From painful school shoes and restrictive high heels to the liberation of trainers worn at work, on nights out and even on wedding days, the works address themes of comfort, power, femininity, sexuality and identity.

Artists respond to stories of damaged feet, social expectation and rites of passage, alongside reflections on the enduring allure of heels and the empowering potential of non-gendered footwear such as Doc Martens. Together, the works reveal footwear as both a site of constraint and a tool of self-expression.

Featuring photography, film, painting, ceramics and textile works, the exhibition even includes a striking wall of damaged feet, inviting audiences to reconsider footwear as a powerful, personal and political force in women’s lives.

The exhibition is informed by research by Professor Jane Ogden.