05 December 2018
Newsdesk
The WOW Foundation has today announced plans for London 2019, in the build up to further activity across the UK and the rest of the world over the next two years. The London events, taking place 8-9 March, over International Women’s Day, include talks with legendary activist and writer Angela Davis, award-winning journalist and author Naomi Klein as well as the launch of major new international anthology New Daughters of Africa edited by Margaret Busby. The programme also features events with Jo Brand and Catherine Mayer, and two global conversations WOW presents: What Now? and WOW presents: What Next? bringing together thousands of women from across all industries and communities to imagine and debate the future of gender equality. Tickets are on sale to Southbank Centre Members from today and to the public tomorrow, 6 December. There will be over 500 tickets available to schools.
The announcement marks the beginning of WOW’s next chapter as an independent organisation and an international movement. Founded and led by Jude Kelly, former Artistic Director at Southbank Centre, The WOW Foundation will work to build and sustain a movement that believes a gender equal world is possible and desirable through Festivals, and events that empower women and girls. Kelly left the Southbank Centre to lead the WOW movement, having overseen its rapid growth over the last decade and recognising its potential power to drive global change in attitudes towards gender. WOW 2019 will comprise a series of eight major events, calling upon the WOW community to take stock of where equality is now and what is next, ahead of their 10-year anniversary in 2020. The WOW London events are designed to inspire, reflect and provoke and will subsequently be rolled out in discussion format across the length of the UK in 2019. Through the programme they will investigate what the next decade of WOW needs to look like if we are to achieve the 2030 UN sustainable goal around equality.
WOW Founder Jude Kelly said: “A seismic change in global women’s affairs is coming about and we feel that everyone needs to be part of building a new gender equal world. In pursuit of this the WOW movement, now a charitable foundation, is accelerating across the world – with 2 million people involved in festivals in 30 countries across 5 continents - more and more people want to celebrate the lives and achievements of women and urge gender justice forward. The WOW Festivals, Think Ins, Wowser Girls Clubs and our growing International Leaders Forum have established WOW as the most significant convener of women across the globe.”
Over the last 9 years the Festivals have developed a reputation as a space where world renowned artists, performers, and political and social activists such as Malala Yousafzai, Leymah Gbowee, Lupita Nyong’o, Annie Lennox, Patrick Stewart, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Salma Hayek come and participate, alongside thousands of people of all genders to celebrate achievements and discuss solutions together. The unique Festival model creates ways for participants and campaigners, women and men, to take part in WOW, to amplify their own causes, or start new initiatives which have a wide impact on communities. It has resulted in hundreds of gender equality initiatives over the past decade, for example: the Women’s Equality Party was founded at the Festival by Sandi Toksvig and Catherine Mayer; Nimco Ali’s campaign to raise awareness around Female Genital Mutilation first found significant platform at the festival and the formation of Girls Rock London, running rock camps for girls and women in London.
To date, WOW has reached over 2 million people in 17 countries on 5 continents across more than 60 festivals including in Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Somaliland, the USA and across the UK. Next, WOW will be in Karachi, Dhaka, New York, Beijing and Atlanta, as well as Istanbul, Baltimore and Shanghai in 2020. It is the biggest, most comprehensive and most significant festival dedicated to connecting the stories of women and girls to active change making globally.
During the day on Friday 8 March and Saturday 9 March 2019 WOW will present What Now? and What Next?, led by Kelly. The events will look at the current state of the nation for women and girls, and then ask what the future looks like. In WOW presents: What Now? inspirational speakers, performers and thinkers will look at the ideas that matter to women and girls (cisgender, transgender and gender non-binary) and the men and boys who support them, from the toughest realities, to the greatest triumphs, in a world that is changing very quickly through politics, technology and cultural norms. It will look at everything from violence and money to wellbeing, to what it means to live with sexism and racism, disability, homophobia and transphobia. Kelly and guests will look at what women all over the world, from Cardiff to Karachi, Bradford to Baltimore and Australia to the Americas care about most, right now. WOW presents: What Next? asks what the future looks like in an age of hyper connectivity, extreme ideas and political turmoil. Across the afternoon audiences will hear from the women helping to imagine - and create - an equal world.
On Friday evening, activist Angela Davis will be in conversation with Kelly following her legendary sold out in conversation at WOW London in 2017 on women, race and class in the post-Trump era. Also on Friday, WOW will present the Women on the Move Awards 2019 celebrating leadership from migrant and refugee women in partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and Migrants Organise Ltd. Jo Brand, one of the UK’s best loved comedians, joins Friday’s lineup with Born Lippy: How To Do Female, challenging stereotypes, unpacking what it means to be female and refusing to remain silent.
On Saturday evening, in her first major engagement since being appointed the inaugural Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, journalist, activist and author Naomi Klein will be in conversation with Kelly, taking a close look at the political and media landscape at this critical time for women, human rights, economic justice and climate change. Also on the Saturday, WOW will launch New Daughters of Africa, edited by Margaret Busby. Twenty-five years ago, the collection Daughters of Africa was published to international acclaim. The new work builds on this tradition for a new generation of women writers and the landscape of African women’s writing today. A portrayal of the accomplishments of over 200 contributors, it celebrates their global sweep, diversity and achievements while also testifying to a wealth of genres. To launch this new publication, WOW will bring together leading contributors to honour a unifying heritage and range of creativity of women from the African diaspora. Also on Saturday evening, Women’s Equality Party co-founder and writer Catherine Mayer examines how debates have become so damagingly polarised in a funny, freewheeling show on soundbite culture Catherine Mayer: FFS.
WOW London takes place by arrangement with Southbank Centre.
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WOW presents: What Now?
Friday 8 March
Royal Festival Hall
14:00 - 17:00
The state of the nation for women and girls. Now.
Join WOW for three hours of some of the best speakers, performers, activists and thinkers with the ideas that matter to women led by Jude Kelly, founder of WOW - Women of the World. From the toughest realities many women and girls face every day, to the greatest triumphs, we present an afternoon of stories and performances that will blow your mind and change your world view.
Since 2011, thousands of people have come to WOWs on six continents. Sixty festivals, millions of conversations and loads of change later, here is what women in Cardiff to Karachi, from Bradford to Baltimore and Australia to the Americas care about most.
The session will look at violence, money, motherhood, and what it means to live your life with a double whammy of sexism and racism, disability, homophobia or transphobia. There are stories about friendship, love, pain, anger, joy and grief, and confusion about fitting into a world that is changing very quickly through politics, technology and cultural norms.
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Women on the Move Awards 2019
Friday 8 March
Clore Ballroom
18:30 - 19:45
Celebrate inspirational leadership from migrant and refugee women at the Women on the Move Awards.
The Women on the Move Awards support women who use positivity and inventiveness to make exceptional contributions to UK society and lead others to inspire social change. The awards help the women gain recognition for their work and raise their profile through the media attention they receive.
The awards, founded by Zrinka Bralo, CEO of Migrants Organise Ltd and delivered in partnership with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency and WOW – Women of the World festival, also celebrate people who champion refugees and migrants in the UK. The media award, in memory of pioneering journalist Sue Lloyd-Roberts, recognises journalists who’s reporting accurately conveys the protection needs of refugee and migrant women.
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Angela Davis in conversation
Friday 8 March
Royal Festival Hall
20:00 - 21:30
Join legendary activist, writer and scholar Angela Davis on WOW’s International Women’s Day.
Through her activism and scholarship over many decades, Angela Davis has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world. Her work as an educator – both at the university level and in the larger public sphere – has always emphasised the importance of building communities around economic, racial, and gender justice.
From the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s through to the present day, Davis has been a living witness to the historical struggles of the contemporary era.
Following her now legendary in conversation at WOW in 2017 on women, race and class in the post-Trump era - we are delighted to welcome Angela Davis back to WOW London in 2019 to continue the conversation with Jude Kelly on International Women’s Day, addressing the current ‘state of the nation’ for women and girls across the world.
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Jo Brand’s Born Lippy: How To Do Female
Friday 8 March
Purcell Room
20:00 - 21:30
Join writer and comedian Jo Brand at WOW as she discusses her darkly funny guide to life as a woman.
One of the UK’s best loved comedians, Brand is renowned for her sharp wit, self-deprecation and feminist values. When Brand calmly explained the effects of sexism on women to a dismissive all-male panel on Have I Got News For You it turned into a viral phenomenon. In Born Lippy, Brand continues to challenge stereotypes, unpacks what it means to be female and refuses to remain silent on everything from family and love, to the female body and heckling as a life-skill.
Packed with memorable anecdotes from her life and career, full of jokes and funny stories, coloured by her experiences as a psychiatric nurse, stand-up and working mother of two, this hilarious book aims not only to entertain but also to really help people. Join us to hear from Brand as she gathers together the things she has learnt about the world, the things she wishes she'd known and the things she hopes for the future in Born Lippy: How To Do Female.
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WOW presents: What Next?
Saturday 9 March
Royal Festival Hall
14:00 - 17:00
What does the future look like for girls and women?
In an age of hyper connectivity, extreme ideas and political turmoil, what’s in store for the future of gender equality? WOW is your crystal ball, with all the most up to date and relevant discussion on the most urgent topics and imagining a gender equal world together.
Across the afternoon you will hear from the brilliant women helping us imagine an equal world - from those on the front lines of global movements transforming the future to girls and young women changing our world for the better with talks, poetry, performance, dispatches from international WOW festivals and pop-ups.
Get inspired to change the world and shape our future by the courage, initiative and intelligence of some of the most badass women around.
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New Daughters of Africa
Saturday 9 March
Purcell Room
18:00 - 19:30
WOW launches Margaret Busby’s major new global anthology of writing by women of African descent.
Twenty-five years ago, Margaret Busby’s anthology Daughters of Africa, was published to international acclaim and hailed as ‘an extraordinary body of achievement… a vital document of lost history’ (The Sunday Times), and ‘the ultimate reference guide’ (The Washington Post).
New Daughters of Africa builds on this rich tradition for a new generation of women writers and the landscape of African women’s writing today. A glorious portrayal of the accomplishments of over 200 contributors, New Daughters of Africa celebrates their global sweep, diversity and achievements while also testifying to a wealth of genres.
To launch this major new publication, WOW brings together leading contributors to honour a unifying heritage and remarkable range of creativity of women from the African diaspora.
Arranged chronologically, New Daughters of Africa illustrates an uplifting sense of sisterhood and the links that endure from generation to generation, as well as common obstacles writers still negotiate around issues of race, gender and class.
Margaret Busby OBE was born in Ghana and educated in Britain. She co-founded Allison & Busby, publishing C.L.R. James, Buchi Emecheta, Nuruddin Farah amongst many others, and became Director of Earthscan. She has judged literary awards, including the Caine, Baileys and Commonwealth prizes, served on the boards of PEN, Wasafiri and the Royal Literary Fund, and collected many honours including the 2015 Henry Swanzy Award.
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Naomi Klein in conversation
Saturday 9 March
Royal Festival Hall
20:00 - 21:30
Renowned journalist, activist and author Naomi Klein speaks to Jude Kelly, Founder of WOW.
Klein is the author of international bestselling books including No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need; This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs The Climate; The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism and No Logo.
In her first major speaking engagement since being appointed the inaugural Gloria Steinem Endowed Chair in Media, Culture and Feminist Studies at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Naomi Klein will take a close look at the political and media landscape at this critical time for women, human rights, economic justice and climate change.
Klein is known for her writing criticising corporate globalisation and consumer culture, and her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Guardian, the London Review of Books, and Le Monde.
Since her New York Times Bestseller This Changes Everything was published in 2014, Klein’s focus has been on putting ideas into action - including as one of the organisers and authors of Canada’s Leap Manifesto, a blueprint for a rapid and justice-based transition off fossil fuels, which has inspired climate justice initiatives around the world.
In 2016 she was awarded Australia’s prestigious Sydney Peace Prize, for “inspiring us to stand up locally, nationally and internationally to demand a new agenda for sharing the planet that respects human rights and equality, and for reminding us of the power of authentic democracy to achieve transformative change and justice.”
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Catherine Mayer: FFS
Saturday 9 March
Purcell Room
20:30 - 22:10
Author and Women’s Equality Party co-founder Catherine Mayer on soundbite culture in a messy world.
Catherine Mayer is at the end of her tether. A better, brighter, more equal future shimmers on the horizon, yet we seem to be hurtling in the opposite direction. Deranged presidents and dangerous populists aren’t the only culprits. As progressive movements do battle with each other and among themselves, Mayer draws on her front-line experiences of journalism and politics to explain how debates became so damagingly polarised, to the detriment of all of us.
Is identity politics to blame? What makes us mistrust everyone but fall for fake news? Are we getting nastier—and might our attitudes to celebrity fuel this trend? Why do TED Talks bring Mayer out in hives? The simple truth, she says, is that life is complicated—and we’ll reach the feminist future she calls Equalia only by embracing that complexity.
A Funny, Freewheeling Show about soundbite culture in a messy world. Go and see it: For Future’s Sake.
