Sex, Power and Gender internship at Fitzwilliam Museum

Students on the Ruskin module "What does it mean to be a feminist?" were accepted onto an internship by Fitzwilliam Museum to explore the themes of sex, power, and gender in the painting Venus and Mars by Botticelli.

The internship was created as part of a project to mark the loan of the painting to the Fitzwilliam from the National Gallery - the first time the painting had left the gallery in 150 years.

The students worked as part of a team of creative producers on the project, among other things exploring how art is experienced in museums and co-curating an event at the Fitzwilliam. As well as learning new skills and finding out about creative careers in culture, the arts, museums and heritage, they also received behind-the-scenes access to the painting and had the chance to work with museum staff and local artists.

The Ruskin module "What does it mean to be a feminist?" is created and led by Dr Harriet Fletcher, and the students thanked her for sharing the internship opportunity with them during lessons, saying that without her, "they would never have known about this important career developing opportunity".