Last week, Kelli Russell Agodon posted the above photo at her blog, announcing that it would be part of the Facing Feminism: Feminists I Know exhibition.
From the opening of the Facing Feminism manifesto:
FACING FEMINISM is a project in which, through art and words, the many different faces of feminism are visually demonstrated. This project is a strong statement in contradiction to the stereotype, the one dimensional portrayal, of feminists (usually as stridently against makeup, fashion; graceful pursuits) that is dominant in the media. Some of us love wearing heels and perfume. Some of us don’t. Some are lesbians, some are straight. Concomitant with the many things that distinguish us individually, there are the things that unite us: our strength and our intelligence.
For this series, each woman was invited to submit a photo of her choosing and anything that she wanted to say in expressing her feminism. Each statement is individual to each woman and so it shows how individual women interpret the freedoms that they want within our common bond. The photos and statements are then made into photoems and the entire project, the series of art pieces, is featured here on the MNArtist.org website.
In addition to putting a more varied and representative “face” to feminism, and thus being a tool for education and advocacy, this project aims to enlarge the current dialogue about what it means to be a feminist and also to help women conceptualize a philosophy of feminism that works for them. It will help to de-demonize the concept of feminism.
Feminists come in all shapes, sizes, colors and ages (even genders as there are men that are feminists too) and this fact is demonstrated through the strong and smart feminists that are featured in this series. There are participants from around the world. Where applicable, their statement is featured in two languages (e.g., participant from Iceland’s statement is in Icelandic and English.)
This project is expanding to include, not just women personally known to me but also those women known to the women in this project that I don’t know — and then the women that are known to the second stage of participants but unknown to the first — a ‘six degrees of separation’ effect visually demonstrating how we are all — despite our differences, connected. This serves the second phase to this project.
This is a project that will continue to grow.
Curated by Annette Marie Hyder, this exhibition has been gathering steam for quite some time, and generated a large number of engaging submissions. I spent the better part of an afternoon looking at each one. It’s a worthwhile way to spend a few hours. I guarantee you’ll be inspired.
