Sexual violence, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and racism resulting in violence against people are prevalent in today’s society. Four partner organisations from Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Ireland acknowledge that continuous action against this violence is necessary. Over the next two years we as organisations, artists and activists will work to share perspectives on women, who made and have been making contributions to equality in our societies.
Women on Women is about the (re)presentation of women by women, past and present. Patriarchal perspectives of history exclude women from the picture unless they were part of the power structure at play. The project therefore focuses on gender equality through a feminist perspective, tracing the legacy of women particularly from a diverse and intersectional perspective. The term women, stands for women, transgender and intersex people who identify as women. The project is trying out new models of solidarity and knowledge exchange between different communities and celebrates the achievements of women past and present with nominations, portraits, collective performances, city mappings, and artistic interventions in public spaces as well as by developing artistic programmes that reflect the cultural diversity of contemporary societies. The project will include twenty women of diverse social, economic, cultural, ethnic, racial, and generational backgrounds, who will be integral to the preparation and realisation of the project's activities and artistic programmes.
We aim to resist current neo-liberal and exclusionary political and populist trends by making quality art with women and presenting new narratives to new audiences. Narratives that leave us inspired and saying wow!
The project is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission and will run from 1st of September 2019 to 30th of August 2021.
Project coordinator: City of Women (SI)
Partners: Outlandish Theatre Platform CLG (IE), Prostor rodne i medijske kulture K-ZONA (HR), Tiiiit! Inc. – Skopje (MK)
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Project's Activities:
Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Ireland
During the duration of the project, regular meetings with a diverse group of women with different backgrounds (five to ten members) are organised in each country. The groups participate in all activities; besides co-selecting nominees for the WoW Awards, they also co-create WoW Stories, WoW Places and WoW Programmes. Local coordinators ensure follow-up of the group exchange on the capacity building model of the project and its dissemination towards the European cultural sector.
Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Ireland
Nationwide call to nominate living women for remarkable contributions to society. In each country, five women will be selected by a peer panel and presented to the wider public through interviews and portraits. Public events in March will highlight the nominees and their achievements.
Ireland, Slovenia
We also explore the project topics through collaborative performance making. Two performances co-created with diverse groups of local participants will be performed both in Dublin and Ljubljana.
- WoW Places
Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia
New narratives and paths highlighting women's (auto)biographies and herstories are being researched through city mappings and scholar research, revisiting feminist cultural heritage in the area. The results of site-specific performances, radio shows and city maps will be edited in the final publication and developed into an interactive app at the end of the project. Participating researchers: Jasmina Jernat, Manca G. Renko, Tea Hvala, Tihana Bertek, Gabrijela Ivanov, Marino Čajdo, Željka Vučković, Ivana Dragsic, Ivana Hadjievska, Jana Kocevska.
- WoW Programmes
Slovenia, Croatia, Macedonia, Ireland
Over the course of the project, six multidisciplinary artistic programmes are being curated. The involved community groups, artists, academics and activists respond to the project's themes that ensure international exchange and bring forth the questions of diversity, participation, inter-cultural representation and solidarity.
The programmes will be presented at the First Born Girl Festival in Skopje (May 2020 and May 2021), the Vox Feminae Festival in Zagreb (June 2020 and June 2021), the International Festival of Contemporary Arts - City of Women in Ljubljana (October 2020) and Theatre of Ruins Conference in Dublin (April 2021).O
Croatia, Slovenia
A brand new social card game including artistic portraits of the nominees for WoW Awards and the women highlighted in WoW Places is being produced, together with an app and accompanying pedagogical materials. Contributing international artists will be selected through open calls.