Joanne Coates Red Herring

Red Herring is a collaborative visual exhibition by visual artist Joanne Coates, exploring the legacy of the Herring Girls—a migrant female workforce central to the fishing industry between the 19th and 20th centuries. Through photography, ceramics, installation, archival materials, performance, and a newly co-created herring crown, Coates examines women’s labour, class solidarity, and the enduring inequalities that continue to shape working-class women’s lives today.

Developed during a six-month residency at Timespan in Helmsdale, the project is deeply rooted in community collaboration and deep archival research. A central element of the exhibition is a series of photographic performances in which Coates reenacts the movements and routines of the gutting girls, drawing from fragmentary memories passed down through generations.

By reclaiming these histories, Red Herring highlights the long-overlooked contributions of working-class women’s labour. It invites us to reconsider how these stories have been told, recognise their significance, and reflect on the persistent impact of class and gender inequality in shaping the world women live in today.