Puérpera UK Book Launch: Deborah Elenter in Conversation with Helen Knowles

Join us for the UK launch of Puérpera, a powerful photobook by Montevideo-born visual artist, photographer and doula Deborah Elenter, published by the Centro de Fotografía de Montevideo.
Since 2015, Elenter has been documenting the experiences of people giving birth — work that confronts the historical invisibility of childbirth in contemporary art, reclaiming it as a vital, political and collective experience. Under her lens, the birthing room becomes a political space, and the act of birth part of the collective struggle of feminism. Having launched at La Fábrica Bookstore in Madrid and at Košice University in Slovakia, we are honoured to host the UK edition at the Women's Art Library.
The evening will feature a conversation between Deborah Elenter and Helen Knowles, Director and Curator of the Birth Rites Collection, chaired by Dr Althea Greenan, Curator of the Women's Art Library. The discussion will explore birth, photography, the body and the politics of making visible what has long been rendered invisible.
As part of this event, Deborah Elenter has generously donated an edition of Puérpera alongside a framed photographic work to the Birth Rites Collection, and a further copy of the photobook to the Women's Art Library. In turn, the Birth Rites Collection will gift a selection of historical pamphlets, fliers and documentation of its work since 2009 to the Women's Art Library — a fitting exchange between two collections committed to preserving and making visible the experiences of women.
Books will be available for purchase and signing after the talk.
About the Birth Rites Collection:
The Birth Rites Collection is the only contemporary art collection dedicated to childbirth, reproduction and maternal experience in the world. Founded in 2008 by artist and curator Helen Knowles, it comprises over 120 works by artists including Judy Chicago, Himali Singh Soin, Anna Perach, Deborah Elenter, and Courtney Conrad. The collection has been hosted by the University of Salford (2013–2017), King's College London (2017–2021) and the University of Kent (2022–2026), with exhibition partnerships at the Whitworth Art Gallery, IKON and Leeds City Art Gallery. Since 2019, the collection has run an annual Summer School for artists, midwives and researchers. birthritescollection.org.uk

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