IWD Report 2014

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INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY FOLKESTONE FEBRUARY - MARCH 2014

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International Women’s Day came to Folkestone not for a day, but for two weeks

From 28th February to 11th March 2014, Georges House Gallery on the Old High Street was home to a Feminist Reading Room, a Feminist Art Exhibition and an exciting series of lunch time talks.

The nearby Space Gallery provided a venue for an exhibition, ‘Shared Traditions’, whilst ‘Fabulous Females’, an evening of performance poetry, rocked the Quarterhouse.

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With backing from The Creative Foundation’s Festival Fund and Folkestone Fringe, this successful venture was a collaboration between nine women visual artists and writers. [See Appendix 1 for artists details]. We came together with a vision of building a non-judgemental network in which to be out and proud as women artists and as feminists, to provide a platform to share our practice as women artists and feminists, to celebrate our successes and to acknowledge the sexism and other oppressions we face in creating and disseminating our art.

“I felt so drawn to Folkestone last week. To focus on feminism, women, female values over the course of some days was so refreshing. My thanks and huge respect for what you achieved for International Women’s Day. !

I am proud to be a woman.”

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International Women’s Day [IWD]

Women’s organisations and governments around the world have observed and celebrated International Women’s Day annually on 8th March since 1910, holding events that acknowledge and celebrate the gains that have been made by and for women

Here in Folkestone we wanted

IWD celebrate the gains women have made -

to achieve a balance of

• There are now female astronauts and women lead countries

celebrating women and our resilience and our successes, whilst never losing sight of what is still to be challenged.

We are pleased that we

• More women than young men are going to university

• There is a flourishing of feminist thought and action amongst younger women eg UK Feminista, Object and Everyday Sexism

• There is greater equality in legislative rights and an increase in women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life.

achieved this duality

IWD also highlights the injustices that women still experience, such as -

throughout our varied and

• Women are paid less on average than men, often for the same work

wide-reaching programme of events.

“Exceedingly interesting!

So great to speak out for women. !

Loved it - AWESOME!”

• Women are not present in equal numbers in management

• Page 3 still exists, along with other forms of sexual objectification of women

• 1 in 5 women experience some form of sexual violence in their lifetime

• 1 in 4 women experience domestic violence

• 2 women a week are murdered by partners or expartners !

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The Exhibition

“A wonderful exhibition, full of so many art works.

Exciting and thought provoking work”” The exhibition was varied, multimedia and thoughtprovoking. Local women artists interrogated the meaning of being a woman and specifically of being a woman artist today. Some of the work was made especially for this exhibition.

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Ideas of beauty, body image, self-esteem, aspiration, media exploitation, societal pressures, role models and use of social media were among the subjects covered. These exhibits became a starting point for lively discussion between visitors and artists who were invigilating. There were discussions about art, about personal experiences of feminism, about the increase in sexism and about the future. It was a safe place to express one’s views as a woman

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- or a man.

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The Exhibition

“A wonderful exhibition, full of so many art works. Exciting and thought provoking work””

“As a man, I love having my mind opened - and challenged”

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The Exhibition

Don’t whistle

at me as I walk,

I am not

a dog

I am not an invisible woman,

not size zero,

I hate catcalls from men,

they make me feel low.

I will grow my hair grey

and wear jeans

and a kaftan

not a suit

because at my age

I don’t give a hoot

One striking exhibit was created by women at MIND, who attended a poetry workshop and wrote about what annoys them about sexism. The outcome was a deckchair covered with their poetic statements...

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“Beautiful work, I feel inspired to go and make art myself now” Don’t tell me if I get angry

‘its your hormones!’

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The Feminist Exhibition and Reading Room

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Exhibitors

Books and furniture

Audrey Green Oakes

Nicholette Go

Nicholette Go

Susanne Koszyk

Sally Hewett

Helen Lindon

Helen Lindon

Helen Mayer

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Maiuko

Helen Mayer

Liv Pennington

Leah Thorn

Thurle Wright

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The Feminist Reading Room

The Feminist Reading Room was a richly dressed, comfortable, welcoming, creative space filled with feminist books and contemporary news cuttings and artworks.

Furnished with items loaned by IWD group members, each item brought with it the invisible energy and intent of its owner.

It was a focal point of the 2014 IWD and acted as a drop in space for a chat and a cup of tea, as well as the venue for informal discussions, lunchtime talks and gatherings.

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“Beautiful - provocative - peaceful - an oasis, containing a subtext of what is often ignored�

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Lunch time talks

Talk One

“ A wonderful opportunity to meet and to talk about women’s issues. The personal element of the talk opened a wellspring of emotions. Thank you”

‘Female Artists who are important (to me)’

Liv Pennington.

This talk was an informal digital slide show that included over forty artists of numerous nationalities.

The slide show covered a hundred year time period and introduced the audience to some lesser known artists. It also provided a platform and context to show the development of Liv’s art works over the last two decades. The talk generated reflections from audience members on women who had impacted positively on their own education and career development

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Lunch time talks

Talk Two

Talk Three

Talking to Men about Sexism & Feminism

Art and Remembrance

Leah & Arike conducted a personal conversation rather than a philosophical or political

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debate, exploring the impact of sexism on both women and men.

Susanne Koszyk’s talk was linked to her exhibition ‘Shared

Themes included -

Traditions’ at Space Gallery.

• The way men are contorted into the role of oppressor through violence

At the beginning of the talk participants were given the

• The importance and validity of women-only space

opportunity to learn cord making, affording them the chance to

• How women’s issues are trivialised and appropriated by the for-profit society

• Men’s responsibility to end sexism, both within themselves and more widely in society

listen while their hands were engaged, exploring different modes of paying attention. There was an introduction to research on the healing of collective trauma through generations and a highlighting

• What it means for men to be allies to women

of the importance of creative expression in understanding the

• The difficulties women have in communicating full-out their struggles with sexism ie

embodiment of trauma, which is often carried without conscious

keeping quiet because we cannot find the words; being accused of being ‘too emotional’; being systematically trained ‘to keep the peace’ and to protect men

• Men finding it hard to listen to women talking about sexism

“A delightful surprise! !

Wasn’t expecting to feel so moved”

awareness.

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Lunch time talks

Talk Five

Talk Four

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The Soroptimists - women inspiring action, transforming lives

Talk Four was an Open Table event. Nicholette and Beverley kicked it off with a piece of performance art that was a humorous and honest look at the relationships between appearance and ageing and between mothers and daughters. The open table went on to offer an opportunity for women to discuss their expectations of life and their achievements, to explore intergenerational relationships and touch upon what the future held for the new and younger generations of women

“Wonderful to talk to so many inspiring women”

This talk was given by members of the Folkestone branch of Soroptimists and was packed with information.

The Soroptimists is an international organisation of professional women who highlight and fundraise for women’s issues all over the world.

Their greatest concern is fighting violence and discrimination against women - including trafficking and Female Genital Mutilation. As they pointed out, this is an international and local issue, with more than 400 girls suffering FGM in Kent annually.

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Shared Traditions

Encouraged by the positive response to Susanne Koszyk’s Coiled Basket Making Workshops for the IWD programme in 2013, the artist successfully applied for an Arts Council of England Research and Development Fund grant and was able to meet the 84 year old Native American Basket Maker and Cultural Expert, Julia F. Parker PhD. at Yosemite Museum, California in October 2013.

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The research was the ground work for the exhibition, ‘Shared Traditions’, in Space Gallery as part of IWD 2014.

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The exhibition aimed to tap into the depth of the tradition of basket weaving and the values that are continuing to be taught by weavers like Julia Parker, who understand their craft to be an expression of living in harmony with one’s environment.

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Susanne also works with the relationship between creativity and healing. The artist grew up next to the memorial site of the former concentration camp Buchenwald in Germany and the healing of historical and collective trauma was an underlying concern in the work shown.

“Thank you for taking the time to talk to me. Really interesting and provocative work” “ power in the quietness”

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Shared Traditions

Demonstrations of cord making and coiled basket making went on daily during the nine day exhibition and many visitors participated.

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This included a group of seven teenagers from ‘Catch 22’, a local charity helping vulnerable young people and adults into education.

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The Private View in the afternoon of the 8th of March was opened with a musical performance by two local sound therapy practitioners, with sounds travelling out of the gallery into The Old High Street.

“We met a few weeks ago at the gallery in Folkestone with a group of young people I am teaching. The group responded so positively to your exhibition and I would like to take you up on your kind offer of a workshop at our Study Programme premises at Pent Valley School, as part of an enrichment activity. I am particularly interested in the weaving and ethnicity content of your exhibition”

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Fabulous Females Performance

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On 8th March, the actual date of International Women’s Day, we had

Last night we did good

an evening poetry performance called, ‘Fabulous Females’.

real good

Eighteen women presented their work in an electric, vibrant event.

the kind of good that counts

We were a rich mix of women - Asian, African-Carribean and white

that is remembered

women; young women, young adult women, middle aged and older

and spoken about

women. We were eager to hear each others’ stories and you could

for years to come.

feel the support in the room for each performer. The three young

Girls grown women

women poets in their teens were a highlight - their poetry pulled no

saying

punches and was beautifully written and performed. Poems covered

Do you remember when?

themes such as body image; mothering; female genital mutilation;

When we realised we

sex trafficking; and being a Black woman.

weren’t alone

we were a part of a

l o n g l i n e o f w o m e n

“It was an absolutely amazing evening, thank you for inviting me to be part of it. I was astounded by the talent and feeling behind the words and put a positive feedback on my facebook page”

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stretching back in time

together remembering

what they try to make us forget

that we are a sisterhood

a force to be reckoned with

Rayya wrote a poem straight after the evening that captures the

and we will

magic of the event

never

be silenced

“The Fabulous Females Poetry evening was truly beautiful. The voices and words keep coming back to me

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Fabulous Females Performance

“I was pleased my daughter came, it’s not the sort of event she would normally go to and I think it resounded on her in a mind-opening way that just me as her mum can’t effect. She especially liked the two women who included music in their performance. I was in my late twenties when I joined a women’s group and it changed my life”

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Walking in My Sisters’ Footsteps

Walking in My Sisters’ Footsteps is a durational, collaborative, participative art project examining women’s shared experience, and the need to understand our past to help us shape the future.The project was originally conceived as a part of Folkestone’s IWD 2014 and inspired by the knowledge that women from East Kent had taken part in an event in 1913 to raise awareness of the campaign to gain the vote. The women chose to walk Kent’s ancient Pilgrim’s Way as their route to join women from seventeen cities across England who were marching to London.

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Walking in My Sisters’ Footsteps combines walking, talking and connecting with an ancient landscape, whilst carrying the weight of history and looking to an uncertain future. Where have we been, where are we now and where are we going? Walking in My Sisters’ Footsteps asks: what do women talk about when they walk in the footsteps of women who have crossed Kent’s ancient trackways for millennia? What might they have talked about then?

And does the landscape that surrounds us, those who have walked it before us, and hindsight, affect us as we traverse the same pathways in summer 2014?

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The project continues into 2015

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Walking in our sisters’ footsteps

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We step through time in both a second and a hundred years

With our sisters, and behind them, and beyond them,

And upon the foundations they built

With their hands and feet and work and words and anger

Our sisters’ feet move with ours

And we talk with one tongue.

We talk because our sisters’ tongues were tied,

We walk because they built the paths we tread,

And with our footsteps we carry our voices

And our sisters’ voices further.

With walking and talking we pierce the future like stars

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Rosie

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Publicity

IWD was publicised by leaflets, facebook, twitter, and a

She is an exploding ruby fountain

the colour of plum jam

banner spanning the pedestrian area at the top of Rendezvous Street, proclaiming...

she is delicate like gossamer

stronger than iron

‘She is the change you wish to see in the world’

As publicity for this year’s International Women’s Day, we also used the group poem which was written last year. We printed this poem on vinyl and it features, in parts, on shop windows all over Folkestone. The window poems are still in place along The Old High Street and Rendezvous Street.

The poem was also featured on a t-shirt that was designed and sold by Quartermasters in The Old High Street - a percentage of the sales price was donated to a local project that provides support to women and children experiencing domestic violence.

she is the warm-hearted red of a firecracker

the fizz of a sherbert flying saucer

INTERNATIONAL

WOMEN’S DAY FOLKESTONE

@ Georges House Gallery and Space Gallery

We also had coverage in The Folkestone Herald!

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https://folkstoneiwd.wordpress.com

https://folkestoneiwd.wordpress.com https://Facebook.com/folkestoneIWD twitter @folkwomen

28th February - 11th March a group of women artists, writers and musicians will be hosting a feminist art exhibition & reading room, free talks, discussion platform and performance by women - for everyone, to celebrate International Women’s Day and explore...

‘Where are we now?’

she was born in black and white

she is a raised clenched fist

she is the feisty red of passion

she is the all-go of a steam train

she is volcanic splash

she keeps you warm, like cotton

she is plush velvet

and a scarlet red dress

she is caught in grey and brown, in sepia prints

her silver hair uncoloured

she is a long wrap of white cotton and says to me Keep Going she is a warm, well worn cardigan

she is the wind that clears the air

she is the quiet whisper within you

that softly calls you Home

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Audiences

“I want to move in!”

Many people were directly impacted by IWD - the nine women, who worked together to manifest the vision, the women exhibiting work; the 610 people who visited Georges House Gallery; the 250 people who visited ‘Shared Traditions’ exhibition and workshops; the 52 people who came to the ‘Fabulous Females’ Poetry performance at The Quarterhouse’; the eight women who took part in the MIND poetry/deckchair workshops; the 87 who took part in the series of lunchtime talks.

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But of course the project reached many more people indirectly. IWD was promoted through Facebook, Twitter, and What’s On Folkestone, with a potential audience of 20,000; and many people would have seen the poetry displayed in The Old High Street shop windows

“Women are powerful...”

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The International Women’s Day Group

Audrey Green Oakes

Diane Dever

Helen Lindon, artist and lecturer www.helenlindon.com

Helen Mayer

Leah Thorn, spoken word poet www.leahthorn.com

Liv Pennington, artist www.livpennington.com

Maiuko

Nicholette Goff

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With thanks to:

The Creative Foundation for financial support from the Festival Fund

Folkestone Fringe

and Anthony Pound for the IWD banner

design Helen Lindon