A roaming art exhibition, which embodied Wom@rts work toward parity for female representation in the arts, opened its doors to the public from on Thursday July 15, until Wednesday September 1, 2021 in the Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD), Clare Street Limerick.
It resented the collection of works by 32 featured artists who took part in Wom@rts residencies in Limerick, Ireland (printmaking), Aviles, Spain (lens based media), and Angloueme, France (comic book). The exhibition has been recognised for welcoming a new era of women’s creativity, while also reflecting on the lasting impact of Simone de Beavoir’s The Second Sex.
Wom@rts Irish Project Director and Head of Department of Fine Art & Education LSAD Dr Tracy Fahey said, “Taking part in this Wom@arts project has been so important for us here at LSAD, with our huge community of emerging female artists. It’s important to say that this Wom@rts project does not end with the residencies and this exhibition, but that it expands, strengthens, and spreads the message and awareness of the necessity of equal representation to the general public. With our European consortium of colleagues in Spain, France, Croatia, Slovenia and Finland we are exploring a follow-up funded project to ensure this project, which has such resonance, continues to build and to educate, inspire and promote female artists.”
Speaking about the exhibition Wom@rts Artistic Director Fiona Quill said, “We have received more than 50 stories reflecting on what it means to be a woman, especially a female artist, in today’s context. We are confronted with various appeals, intimate, even painful ones, all the way to social criticism, and humour. The exhibition, an important part of the Wom@rts project, in a creative way offers these artists more visibility, gives them a louder voice, and at the same time helps the whole civilisation to understand its half in each of us.”
Wom@rts Residency and Training Co-ordinator, and Director of Limerick Printmakers Jess Tobin added, “Through the Wom@rts project, we have become involved in key activities to support and nurture emerging female artists. In 2019, in conjunction with Limerick Printmakers, we hosted a printmaking residency for ten European artists. We also organised residencies for Irish artists in Spain and France to produce digital and graphic illustration work. In 2020 LSAD also developed and piloted a very successful training programme for emerging artists which is being rolled out across Europe, while in 2021, we platformed these artists through a series of web-based events as part of International Women’s Day 2021.”
Also on show in LSAD during this time were on a display the risograph prints by young Irish female artists, made during a pilot training sessions conceived of and organised by LSAD and Limerick Printmakers, co-ordinated by Jess Tobin and co-produced with Women in Film and Television, Finland.
Both exhibitions were free to the public, as it was a comprehensive exhibition catalogue.
