We’ve been inspired by the conversations and celebrations of female identity that happened across Australia for International Women’s Day last Friday. Here are some of our favourites:
Sydney Opera House’s talks and ideas festival All About Women celebrated IWD with a series of events tackling everything from #MeToo, female anger, gender paradigms and the breadth of feminist thinking. One of the most ear-catching was Joan Morgan – author, journalist, feminist and hip-hop junkie. Check out Myf Warhurst’s interview with Morgan to hear about her work documenting the life of industry icon Lauryn Hill and her biting insight into the intersections of race, gender and music.
The Stella Prize Short List was announced last Friday. Small publishers dominated the list and Jamie Maria Lau was named the youngest ever finalist at 22. Worth $50,000 the prize is awarded annually for the best work by a female-identifying Australian author released in the preceding year. The Stella Prize celebrates the work of lesser-known authors and preferences diverse audiences and broad subjects, with this year proving no exception. Check out the short list here.
She – the Walker St Gallery’s annual celebration of emerging female artists – is back for its seventeenth year. The exhibition features work by graduate artists Karen Crawford, Letisha Hirniak, Brooke Hyrons, Madeleine Joy Dawes and Zee Mazloum. Hosted by the City of Greater Dandenong’s home of the arts, She explores themes of femininity, home, identity, self and meaning.
Finally, you know we’re suckers for data – and Triple J’s fourth By The Numbers article examining the gender gap in Australian Music reports greater gender diversity in nearly every category compared to their previous reports. The article is a powerful visualisation of the progress made, and the work left to do.
Illustration by Abigail Gordon for Sydney Opera House.
