Unbound Visual Arts Exhibit & Program: Stronger Sisterhood!

UPDATE:

Check out the recorded panel discussions from UVA's "Stronger Sisterhood" Exhibit and related talks below:

Description posted by Unbound Visual Arts on YouTube:
"The Feb. 25, 2021 program for UVA's 'Stronger Sisterhood: Representing Intersectional Identity' exhibit running from Jan. 29 - March 31, 2021. This program included Curator Paige Moreau, artists Linda Clave, Maia Monteagudo, and Nilou Moochhala and UVA's Brenda Gael McSweeney."
Link to Panel Discussion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBb6FCShhnM

Description posted by Unbound Visual Arts on YouTube:
"'Voices of Resilience -- Our Stories Matter' (March 4th 6:00 - 7:00 pm). Unbound Visual Arts is presenting its annual Women's History Month program. This year's free program complements UVA's current exhibit: 'Stronger Sisterhood: Representing Intersectional Identity.' 'Voices of Resilience -- Our Stories Matter' is being presented by Janine Fondon, Bay Path U. Assist. Prof. with Dr. Demetria Shabazz & Dr. Lucie K. Lewis. The program includes Paige Moreau, UVA's curator for 'Stronger Sisterhood' and Dr. Brenda Gael McSweeney, a founding member of UVA, who introduced the panel and welcomed the audience. The presentation is about the intersecting lives of women in Massachusetts and beyond who have changed the course of history."
Link to Panel Discussion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAQFqUHlcbM

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"Stronger Sisterhood" now has 10 artists and is opening this month. Watch this space!

UPDATE:

Stronger Sisterhood: Representing Intersectional Identity is now live at: https://www.unboundvisualarts.org/stronger-sisterhood-representing-intersectional-identity/

Date: Online Exhibit: January 29 - March 31, 2021; Artists Panel: February 25, 2021 at 6pm

Location: Online Event (Register for Artists Panel Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN__jxkEi_cT7OfuZG7X1qysA)

 

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From Unbound Visual Arts' website:

Stronger Sisterhood: Representing Intersectional Identity

Curated by Paige Moreau

Opening January 2021

Artists: Linda Clave, Joanne Desmond, April Jakubec Duggal, Sara Gately, Brooke Jones, Maia Monteagudo, Nilou Moochhala, Diane Sheridan, Mary Vannucci, Andrea Zampitella

Nilou Moochhala, Singular Multiplexity, digital print, 24 x 18 inches, $200

Diane Sheridan, Three in the Subway, color digital photography, 11 x 14 inches, $200

Exhibit and publicity support from the Women's, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Program (WGS) at Boston University, and the Gender & International Development Initiatives of the Brandeis Women's Studies Research Center (GaIDI/WSRC)

Preliminary Curatorial Statement:

"As long as women are using class or race power to dominate other women, feminist sisterhood cannot be fully realized" ~ bell hooks

"Stronger Sisterhood: Representing Intersectional Identity," is a virtual exhibition in a virtual gallery that explores the multidimensional and intersectional identities of women.

The history of feminism has often been described in “waves”. The first wave is defined by the fight for women’s suffrage from the late 19th to early 20th century. The second wave, in the mid 20th century, focused on gender equality in the workplace, the home, and in civil liberties. Both of these movements, while making great strides for women, failed to address deeper compounded layers of oppression and marginalization faced by many women. First and second wave feminism were largely white middle class women’s movements and were often exclusionary of women of color, the LGBTQ+ community, working class women, women with disabilities and so on. The movements kept a narrow scope by focusing on a one dimensional vision of what it means to be a woman assuming common experiences and levels of marginalization based on gender identity. In reality, oppressions experienced by way of gender do not exist in a vacuum but instead intersect with multiple facets of identity. In 1989, lawyer, civil rights activist, and critical race theorist, Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term “intersectionality” to describe how gender, race, class, and other individual characteristics intersect and augment oppressions. At present, the recognition of intersectionality’s importance in women’s rights has grown into a third wave of feminism that strives to recognize all the forms of oppression that female identifying people face.

Art created by a diverse range of female identifying artists is a key into visualizing and representing intersectional experiences. “Stronger Sisterhood: Representing Intersectional Identity” showcases that women’s experiences are not one but many, and only through diversity in representation can we begin to grasp a three dimensional view of all women. How do our experiences as women differ due to other facets of our identity? How are we made stronger by recognizing and honoring these differences? How has the recognition of intersectional feminism grown and where is there more work to be done?

Ronni Komarow's latest Galatea exhibit: "Paths Well Traveled"

 From Ronni's Exhibit Handout:

Photo by Eric West

"All my life I have walked for solace, for socializing, for nurturing my soul. I have always believed that spaces, both indoors and out, are powerful, spiritual protagonists in our lives.

Growing up, I frequently strolled on South Broadway in Yonkers, NY with my best friend, Sonia. We met classmates all along the way. As an undergraduate in Philadelphia I walked through Center City and later as a graduate student I hiked over silent deep-woods trails in rural Vermont.

Here in Boston I walk along the banks of my beloved Chandler Pond. I take runs along the Charles River, and walk there with my husband and with close friends. Both Chandler Pond and the Charles River are constants in my life, and yet both are constantly changing, continual sources of wonder.

During the pandemic the outdoor spaces in my personal world have taken on epic proportions, nurtur- ing and healing, as I walk through them almost every day. The regular sharing of these spaces is key to my sense of connection to others in a world of social distancing.

This exhibition, 'Paths Well Traveled,' is my tribute to those spaces.

Many of the works here involve monotype, a technique where ink is painted on a non-porous surface and then transferred to paper. To evoke the feeling of traveling over a path, I used scroll-format printing, working with images that are perhaps eight or ten inches high — and as many as ten feet long. Even with drawing, this is an unwieldy format — and an exciting creative challenge."

On Gerry's Balcony, Trouville

Photo courtesy Ronni

to Run, to Become

Photo by Brenda Gael McSweeney

Our Next Addition to 'Women & UN Origins' Series, Dr. Marilyn Carr's "Women, the League of Nations and the UN: A Story in 3 Parts!"

A message from UNESCO/UNITWIN Network Director, Dr. Brenda Gael McSweeney:

Hello Friends,

Hope you’ve been having a pleasant Winter Solstice season -- despite these trying times!

We're excited to announce the next addition to our new "Women & UN Origins" series of the BU-based UNESCO/UNITWIN Network on Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development! Joining us once again in shaping and publishing the series is the Buenos Aires-headquartered Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender led by Gloria Bonder.

Our latest in the series is an article by Marilyn Carr entitled "WOMEN, THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND THE UNITED NATIONS: A STORY IN THREE PARTS" -- see link below. Dr. Carr established UNIFEM’s Regional Office for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) based in Harare, and carried out many other trailblazing UN functions!

This feature provides Marilyn's point of view on "how the work of earlier generations of women formed the basis of future work on gender equality in the UN." It is indeed hard to imagine women having successfully gained the roles and influence that they did over time in the United Nations System, without being able to build on the foothold established during the League of Nations era.

We're grateful to Marilyn for her clear presentation of insights into women's priorities, and the intensity of their struggles, during this foundational chapter.

As Gloria has noted, "we want particularly to encourage young researchers and activists to know and value what has been done and achieved." Both our UNESCO/UNITWIN Network and the Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender wish to highlight the importance of sharing accounts on the creation of key international institutions and pathbreaking initiatives, for today’s social justice activists, academics, students, and policymakers.

Happy reading! Article here: http://www.brendamcsweeney.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Carr-LON_29Dec2020.pdf

Wishing you a bright 2021!
Be super well--Brenda

Brenda Gael McSweeney on behalf of the UNESCO/UNITWIN Network on Gender, Culture, and People-Centered Development;
with Gloria Bonder on behalf of the Global Network of UNESCO Chairs on Gender

 

 League of Nations Pioneer

 Rachel Crowdy, circa 1932, University of Bristol, special collection, DM1584/1

Gathering at the African Training and Research Centre for Women, Ethiopia in the1970s

L to R: Marilyn Carr, Nellie Okello, Mary Tadesse, Brenda Gael McSweeney

 "One of my Regional Science and Technology Meetings while working at ATRCW. Note because of subject matter Governments sent men! Only women there were me and my young Ethiopian Assistant!" - Marilyn Carr

"Regional Meeting in Kathmandu co-organised by UNIFEM, IDRC (International Development and Research Centre) and WIEGO (Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing). Nancy Spence from IDRC in centre. Ela Bhatt {Founder, Self-Employed Women's Association, India - pictured to her left}, Nepali Government dignitary {at far left}, myself {Marilyn at right}, and Marty Chen {of WIEGO at far right}"- Marilyn Carr