Country Lesbians: the Story of the WomanShare Collective

In the summer of 1973, looking to escape the masculine and patriarchal culture of the big city, Billie, Carol and Dian embarked on a road trip. Fuelled by a desire to reconnect with the land and find new ways of living together as women, they drove across the United States to southern Oregon. In this rural country, they found an independence and isolation that allowed them to fully assert themselves as feminists and lesbians. They bought a plot of land and founded WomanShare, a breakaway community to live, build, farm and write on their own terms. In 1974, joined by Nelly and Sue, the three co-founders began writing a book documenting their daily lives. The writing process also presented an opportunity to explore their interpersonal relationships. This joint effort resulted in Country Lesbians: the Story of the WomanShare Collective, a blend of erotic poetry, group conversations, comics and even DIY recipes for tampons. The book became the basis for an exhibition of the same name, showcasing the collective’s photographic and editorial archives. After its premiere in Paris, the exhibition will now travel to Brussels for a showcase at SB34.

To celebrate the closing the exhibition, researchers, artists, and curators Salomé Burstein, Agathe Cotte, and Louise Toth host a gathering and conversation around the book Country Lesbians, with readings from the French version, which will be published by Ness Books and Shmooks in the spring of 2026.

You can visit the exhibition Country Lesbians: the Story of the WomanShare Collective on Fridays and Saturdays from 14:00 to 18:00 at SB 34 Concorde.

Salomé Burstein (she/her) is an independent author and curator based in Paris. Her research focuses on collective practices and the links between eroticism, the attention economy and entertainment culture. Since 2021, she is the founder and director of Shmorévaz, an independent art space located in a former shoe shop in Paris, and the editor of Shmooks, Shmorévaz’s editorial platform.

Agathe Cotte is an artist-publisher. Her practice comprises publishing, installation, graphic design and curatorial work and explores the relationship between text and image. Since 2020, she has been developing research on the memories of minorities, combining writing, fantasy archives and the circulation of marginalised narratives. The published object – its history, its uses and its forms – takes centre stage in her work.

Louise Toth is a doctoral student in gender studies at the University of Bordeaux-Montaigne. She is interested in communities and collective visual practices.