Celebrating everyday female leaders at QVMAG

Image: women exploring the exhibition Herself on International Women's Day 2022 at the Art Gallery at Royal Park. 

Media release issued Friday 4 March 2022

The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery is hosting three free interactive community workshops to celebrate International Women's Day.

Based around the exhibition Herself — an eclectic collection of work by female artists from within the QVMAG collection spanning 200 years — the workshops will feature conversations, art and music based on the International Women's Day theme for 2022, #BreakTheBias.

With each workshop hosting a local female guest speaker from across the fields of education, the arts and music, guests are invited to consider the impact of gender inequality on a local, national and global scale, as well as to share individual stories of bias and how people combat bias in their personal lives.

Three free workshops are available, starting from tomorrow, March 5.

Saturday 5 March, 2pm | In conversation with Di Nailon, OAM

Di is an early childhood educator and recipient of the Medal of Order of Australia for Services to Early Childhood Education. The workshop will start with an interactive tour of the exhibition Herself, guiding attendees through the stories of works on display, and the women behind. The workshop will lead into an interactive spoken word activity based on the 2022 theme #BreakTheBias as Di responds to the stories of group members, alongside her own experiences.

Monday 7 March, 10.30am | Fibre headdress and women's story sharing workshop with Vicki West

Vicki is a Tasmanian Aboriginal artist of the trawlwoolway people from the north-east coast region and QVMAG Aboriginal Education Officer. Starting with an interactive tour of the exhibition Herself, this workshop will lead attendees through the stories of works on display with a focus on works created by Aboriginal women. Following on from the tour, attendees will be guided through an interactive workshop with Vicki as they learn how to make head adornment with fibre.

Tuesday 8 March, 10.30am | The sound of women: with Karlin Love and Suzanne Turner

Starting with an interactive tour of the exhibition Herself, this workshop will guide attendees through the stories of works on display and the women behind them, as musicians Karlin Love and Suzanne Turner respond through live music. The workshop will lead into an interactive spoken word activity based on the International Women's Day theme for 2022 #BreakTheBias where participants will join a women’s circle and be invited to share stories of the role models in their lives, or personal lived experiences with bias, to the group.

Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten the workshops represented an opportunity to take a unique guided tour of the Herself exhibition.

'The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery is excited to celebrate our female artists for International Women's Day 2022,' Mayor van Zetten said.

'Herself is a wonderful exhibition, and it’s a real showcase of the range and richness of art by women in QVMAG's collection.

'It features textiles, photography, painting, video, ceramic, jewellery, furniture and more by artists like Bea Maddock, Margaret Stones, Lola Greeno, Dorothy Stoner, Valma Tiffin and a host of others.

'This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is ‘Break the Bias’ and it’s a reminder for all of us to elevate our thinking.

'I hope it also serves as inspiration for Tasmanian women to continue their varied leadership roles in the community, whether through the arts — as is being showcased here — or in sectors like local government.'

Image: women exploring works within the exhibition Herself at the Art Gallery at Royal Park as part of International Women's Day 2022.

QVMAG Public Programs Officer Carmencita Palermo said the program offerings taking place for International Women's day at QVMAG, and across Launceston, were a step in the right direction.

'It's important we as a community have open discussions about gender bias and what this can look like for many women,' Ms Palermo said.

'Gender bias is something that many women experience in their lives, and campaigns such as International Women's Day certainly create a platform for large scale community conversations to take place and to drive social change.

'The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery is proud to be hosting the wonderful exhibition Herself. We're delighted that prominent Tasmanian female cultural practitioners are leading these free community workshops and we encourage people to come and check them out.'