women in london

WOMAN; Whose Canvas?
Photography and Art Exhibition October 2010

FORWARD is a charity that aims to safeguard and protect the reproductive and sexual rights of African girls and women. The youth program within FORWARD is organizing an art exhibition with the central theme being beauty, who defines it and what lengths women go to achieve it. We have opened the opportunity for the general public to take part in this exhibition by submitting their art work and photography.

CALL FOR ENTRIES!

The Concept

In many societies around the world there are varying concepts of beauty but an almost universal pressure to attain it. Whether we lose weight, surgically enhance, hide or remove parts of ourselves that are considered unattractive, the female form continues to be reshaped and redefined.

The aim of this exhibition is to ask the questions; ‘who decides?’ and ‘at what cost?’

‘WOMAN; Whose canvas?’ will primarily be an interactive digital exhibition. Artists can submit up to three photographs of work. Email jpeg images to woman.whose.canvas@gmail.com with a brief paragraph of no more than 200 words describing each piece of work.

Deadline: 5pm Friday 17th September 2010.

Issues you may wish to explore…
* What influences do the media, family, culture and religion have over the portrayal and pursuit of female beauty?
* What validates beauty as something other than what women are naturally born to be?
* And to what extent does pursuing beauty in fact hinder health, happiness and even human rights?

The Event

The exhibition will take place in London on Wednesday 27th October at The Rag Factory (just off Brick Lane, near Liverpool Street).

This event is organized by young women at FORWARD, a charity that exists to promote the health and human rights of African women and girls, empowering communities to end violence against women. http://www.forwarduk.org.uk

Selected photographs will be projected onto blank canvases and with your permission produced as postcards to promote your work and support the work of FORWARD. Most images will be exhibited electronically but some artwork will be selected to be displayed if you are willing to post or deliver at your own expense.

The evening aims to entice all the senses including, refreshments, audio, visual, panel discussion, and a chance to network. At the end of the exhibition visitors will be invited to creatively express their own ideas of true beauty on the blank canvases displayed.

We look forward to receiving your work and if you have any further questions regarding this opportunity please do not hesitate to contact Jenny, Saria or Nora at woman.whose.canvas@gmail.com