Events 17 – 23 March
Here are some dates for your diary of woman-centric events going on around the UK this week.
UK-wide:
22 March: ‘Stand up to racism and fascism‘: parades throughout Europe.
Click on the links for details of events in Cardiff, Glasgow and London.
A day of action against racism has been called for across Europe to coincide with the marking of UN Anti-Racism Day in 2014.
Many organisations and communities have come together to call for a parades and rallies across the UK with the slogan of Stand Up to Racism and Fascism. Migrant and refugee rights groups from across the country will be joining up on the day, to walk together in a block, under the banner of ‘no human is illegal’.
Bristol:
18 March: Translation/Transmission: Audre Lorde – The Berlin Years 1984 – 1992 + Intro at The Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, from 1pm.
March is Women’s History Month and the Translation/Transmission season at the Watershed will celebrate the diverse ways women activists have communicated their struggle and resistance through film.
Audre Lorde‘s incisive, often-angry, but always brilliant writings and speeches defined and inspired the US-American feminist, lesbian, African-American, and Women-of-Colour movements of the 1970s and 1980s.
This film documents an untold chapter of Lorde’s life: her influence on the German political and cultural scene during a decade of profound social change. It chronicles how Lorde encouraged Afro-German women to write and to publish, as she challenged white women to acknowledge the significance of their white privilege and to deal with difference in constructive ways.
Previously unreleased archive material and present-day interviews explore the lasting influence of an amazing, influential woman.
With an introduction plus video of Alexis Pauline Gumbs.
Tickets £5.50 full /£4 concessions.
23 March: Translation/Transmission: Surname Viet Given Name Nam + Discussion at The Watershed, 1 Canon’s Road, Harbourside, Bristol, from 1pm.
March is Women’s History Month and the Translation/Transmission season at the Watershed will celebrate the diverse ways women activists have communicated their struggle and resistance through film.
Vietnamese-born Trinh T. Minh-ha’s profoundly personal experimental documentary explores the role of Vietnamese women historically and in contemporary society.
Using dance, printed texts, folk poetry and the words and experiences of Vietnamese women in Vietnam (from both North and South and from the United States), Trinh’s film challenges official culture with the voices of women. A theoretically and formally complex work, Surname Viet Given Name Nam explores the difficulty of translation, and themes of dislocation and exile, critiquing both traditional society and life since the war.
Followed by a discussion with Dr Carol O’Sullivan.
Tickets £5.50 full /£4 concessions.
Chawton:
22 March: Cooking People with Sophia Waugh: talk, cookery demonstration and book signing at Chawton House Library, Chawton, Alton, Hampshire, GU34 1SJ from 2.30pm to 4.30pm
A chance to hear Sophia Waugh talk about her latest book, Cooking People: The Writers Who Taught The English How To Eat.
The book focuses on five female writers who have revolutionised home cooking.
From Hannah Wooley who was, in the 17th century, the first woman to make a living from cookery writing, to the much loved Isabella Beeton and Elizabeth David, Sophia will explore and demonstrate the how, why and what of English eating.
A unique experience which will also include the opportunity to see the house’s original kitchen and a display of cookery books and illustrations from the library’s collection.
Tickets £12.50
Dundee:
20 March: Reclaim the Night march and rally meeting at City Square, Dundee, from 6pm.
The Women’s Rape and Sexual Abuse Centre Dundee and Angus (WRASAC) is holding a ‘Reclaim The Night’ Rally and March.
‘Reclaim The Night’ is a movement seeking an end to all forms of sexual violence and sexual exploitation. Through Marching we look to raise awareness of the issues sexual violence and to promote the creation of a safer environment for women to be able to walk safely in the street after dark.
The rally starts at 6pm at the City Square, is followed by the march and finishes at the Marrayat Hall in City Square for a small reception with music and talks.
Glasgow:
20 March: CEDAW and constitutional change in Scotland at City Halls, Glasgow, from 10-1.30pm.
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) is often described as an international bill of rights for women. This seminar will look particularly at how CEDAW could be incorporated in Scotland’s future and how women’s equality and human rights could fit and thrive in different constitutional settings.
Participants will hear more about the how Scottish women’s experiences were represented in the CEDAW Committee’s examination of the UK in July 2013.
The seminar will also provide participants with more information about the possibilities for women’s equality in Scotland’s future.
Come along if you work for a woman’s organisation, project or network or if you are an activist who is interested in campaigning about discrimination against women.
This is a free event.
London:
17 March: She Grrrowls: Humans vs. Machines at The Gallery Café, 21 Old Ford Road, London E2, from 7.30pm.
She Grrrowls showcases a range of talent women and includes poetry, comedy and a musical finale.
Come along and take part in the all-inclusive open mic section, with this month’s theme: Humans vs. Machines.
Hosted by Carmina Masoliver; poetry by Rosie Garland and Rosemary Swainston & Chris Lawrence; comedy by Lizanne Davies; music by Mushana.
Tickets £5/£4.
18 March: Afghan Women 12 Years On: Info night, discussion and food at the London Action Resource Centre, 62 Fieldgate Street, London, E1 from 7pm
An evening in support of OPAWC, one of Afghanistan’s longest active and radical women’s groups.
Ewa Jasiewicz has recently returned from Kabul and will share what she has seen of life for Afghan women 12 years on from the overthrow of the Taliban by NATO.
Guy Smallman has been working with OPAWC since 2010 and will do a slideshow presentation of OPAWC’s projects in Kabul and Farah province.
Free entry.
21 – 23 March: Birangona: Women of War by Komola Collective at Rich Mix, 25-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1.
Moryom is a young woman who loves the taste of tamarind, the smell of her grandmother, and holding her husband’s hand. It is 1971, the year that the war of independence tears through Bangladesh, and no part of the country is untouched. The Kalbosheki Storm is coming. In a small village, Moryom and her family await its arrival. Every day, they hide from soldiers in the pond behind their house, while across the country, women are disappearing from streets and homes. When the storm finally hits, it will tear away everything.
Komola Collective was formed in 2012 by Leesa Gazi, Filiz Ozcan, Sohini Alam and Caitlin Abbott. We are writer, director, actor, musician, illustrator, facilitator, composer, and designer. Komola Collective is a London-based arts company dedicated to telling the stories that often go untold – stories from women’s perspectives. They want to revisit history. Challenge social taboos. Unearth myths. Retell known stories. Question accepted beliefs.
Birangona means Brave Woman. In the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh from Pakistan, more than 200,000 women and girls were systematically raped and tortured as part of the Pakistani army’s war strategy. After Bangladesh gained independence, the war effort was acknowledged as a popular struggle. ‘Freedom Fighters’ were championed, but these women were ignored by a society in which rape is considered a source of shame for the victims. Marked with dishonour, they were silenced, ostracised and forgotten. 42 years on, Komola Collective wants to help break this silence.
The piece uses innovative physical performance, movement, and animation interwoven with films of the Birangona women’s accounts to tell the story of the Birangona women.
Each show will have a post show Q&A with the cast and production team:
A special post-show discussion, on 21 March is presented by South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC) and Komola Collective, 8.45pm – Venue 2.
Special Q&A panellist for 22 March is Nayanika Mookhaerjee (Evening Show); Nayanika Mookherjee is a Reader in Socio-Cultural Anthropology in Durham University and has published extensively on gendered violence, memory, ethics and aesthetics. She has been working on the public memory of wartime rape of 1971 for over a decade and her book on this topic is forthcoming with Duke University Press. She is currently researching 71 and adoption.