Powerful images centering on feminism are in a new display up this and next month at Port Coquitlam's Leigh Square Community Arts Village.
The exhibit - titled The F Word: Exploring Feminism in the 21st Century - is aimed at provoking thought and dialogue about the experiences of 13 artists and includes a number of works in different media on topics like female identity, body image and violence against women.
Curated by Sherazad Jamal and Cat L'Hirondelle, the show, which opens tomorrow (Thursday), also includes a community quilt project done by the Ismaili Muslim Council of BC and Tri-City Transitions.
Last week, The Tri-City News contacted the women who participated in the exhibit and asked what it meant to them. Here's some of what they said:
Afuwa Granger: "I couldn't NOT participate in this project that Sherazad and Cat created. The rights of women are, fundamentally, human rights. And the struggles for those rights intersects with the struggles of those who bear the weight not only of sexism and misogyny but of overlapping oppressions such as racism, homophobia, ableism and poverty."
Christine Rio: "I watch as my daughter is subjected to commercials and TV shows where it seems to be necessary for women to have superlong eyelashes and be a size 00. Times really haven't changed. I took... magazine images and coupled with the key ideas of what the media thinks women should be: thin, sexy, in order to be perfect. I created my necklace, The Perfect Woman. The piece has generated a lot of good conversations with women at the shows I've done, and also with my daughter; we are much more than what the media dictates."
Danaca Ackerson: "I responded to the call for submission for The F Word exhibit as I had been making work that reflected my experience as a woman, which involve an attempt to un-curse myths and language that reinforce the structural oppression of women.... Participating in this exhibit has been truly validating and inspiring for me. I had started to turn away making works that reflect my experience as a woman after being asked (several times, all by men) why I don't make art people like. I feel a renewed surge of creativity energy from participating in this exhibit."
IIlze Bebris: "Being part of this exhibition is a means of carrying forward the discussion about gender at a moment when men feel sidelined and women struggle with pressures of doing it all."
Peggy Paulson: "I think it is a very appropriate time to re-examine the feminist movement and, as in many subjects, the medium of art is a powerful way to do it. My painting, I'm Dancing As Fast As I Can, represents one aspect of the consequences of women's successes towards equality in our society."
Tahmineh Sarbazzadeh: "I participated in this project to express the voice of a movement and to illustrate the vulnerability of the female figure in every society. I presented three pieces of artwork that with the theme of Women and Children. These pieces were done digitally in forms of posters. When I became a member of this project I got involved with artists with the same interests, and familiarized myself with their personal views on feminism expressed through their artworks."
Meghna Haldar: "I participated in the F-Word exhibit because I thought the curatorial interests were germane to the theme and subject matter of my most recent video work. The exhibit dares to ask questions about the continuing relevance of feminism in the 21st Century and responds to it using a broad range of contemporary and multicultural visual art by women. In doing so, I believe the exhibit highlights the role of art in confronting and dealing with the status of women in the 21st century."
The F Word: Exploring Feminism in the 21st Century runs until April 2 at Leigh Square Community Arts Village (1100-2253 Leigh Sq., Port Coquitlam), with an opening reception on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m.
jwarren@tricitynews.com
