Wonder Women 2018

Sure, we’re all feminists, right? But feminism needs to become more than just a word we attach ourselves to, it needs to be productive — and this is the concept that the 2018 Wonder Woman Festival is founded on.

Throughout the month of March, the city will be taken over by a programme that puts women at the centre of culture and art in Manchester. Amplifying those voices which are so often unrecognised, this festival is a platform which recognises the female narrative.

As the birthplace of Emmeline Pankhurst — who lived just off Oxford Rd —, Manchester is bound inextricably to the legacy of the suffragette movement and the history of female liberation. This year is especially pertinent as it marks the 100-year anniversary of the Representation of the People Act, which was a landmark for gender equality and females entering the political sphere.

This historical moment will be felt from a contemporary perspective through a series of performances, screenings, exhibitions, and talks. All provoking us to consider how females are represented in our culture today.

Help forge a new historical moment by showing your support to the range of productions which will be running, here are our highlights:

• Feminist Takeover and Wonder Woman 2018 Festival Launch
  Manchester Art Gallery, the 1st of March 6-8pm
  As the retrospective work of artist and campaigner Annie Swynnerton takes centre stage in the gallery, this opening evening is curated by Instigate Arts, who will hold a panel discussion asking whether feminist festivals are a form of activism in their own right?
• Sylvia – Jacqueline Mulhallen
  Lynx Theatre, the 3rd of March 2-4pm
  A one-woman play looking back at the early life of Emmeline Pankhurst, immersed against over 250 projected slides of Pankhurst’s own photographs and paintings.
• The Ongoing Nakba
  The People’s History Museum, the 8th of March 2-4pm
  An afternoon exchanging stories presented by Palestinian refugee women to commemorate the 1948 Palestinian Exodus; accompanied by a moving visual installation, this evening provides a platform for the plight and resilience of women refugees.
• If this is the last thing I say? – Ruth Barker
  Castlefield Gallery, the 8th of March 6-8pm
  A spoken word and soundscape which enacts contemporary female anxieties surrounding motherhood, illness, and isolation.
• Film Focus: Hooligan Sparrow
  CFCCA (Centre for Chinese Contemporary Artists), the 8th of March 6:30-8pm
  An exclusive screening of one of China’s most prominent female rights activists — Hooligan Sparrow —, who exposes female sex workers and the abuse of children in a shocking documentary.

Tags: Arts, feminism, festival, Manchester, Pankhurst, Suffragettes, wonder women