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By Joanne Shurvell – Originally published at Forbes.com

For one week every June, art galleries and institutions around the world commit to showing only female artists, with many offering special talks and events. Women Artists’ Art Week (WAAW) was co-founded in 2022 in London by artist Annya Sand and art patron Catherine Hunt as a not for profit initiative to encourage the art industry to be more inclusive towards female artists and to address the imbalance of representation of female artists. From London, the annual event has gathered momentum, showing there is clearly a need for an annual event to highlight female artists.

WAAW hosting a talk as a part of official Venice biennale 2022 program at the Uzbekistan National Pavilion discussing gender imbalance in the art worldWAAW

This year’s event runs until 15 June, with 44 galleries in the U.K involved. WAAW has expanded quickly since launching and this year, seven overseas galleries are participating including the Rangi Gallery in Tanzania, the Leila Heller Gallery in the USA, three galleries in China, one in Uzbekistan and one in Singapore. A map on the WAAW website shows artlovers all of this year’s participating galleries and their exhibitions and events. It’s also useful for women artists to see which galleries are perhaps more encouraging of women artists.

Among the highlights of the female art shows this week in London is a tour on 14 June at 5pm of the Victoria & Albert Museum’s new Parasol Foundation for Women in Photography. The new gallery emphasises the museum’s commitment to supporting female practitioners and championing contemporary photography, through a dynamic series of events and exhibitions.

Bowman Sculpture and Guerin Projects is presenting The Power of She – A Tribute to Women in the Arts (until 24 June), a group exhibition featuring 15 of the most important 18th and 19th century, Modern and Contemporary women artists. including: Camille Claudel, Elizabeth Frink and Barbara Hepworth, juxtaposed with leading contemporary artists Emily Young, Lily Lewis and Pauline Amos. A highlight is works by 19th-century artist Camille Claudel, who, while until recently was perhaps best known for her tragic love affair with Rodin, now has her own museum, the Camille Claudel Museum in Nogent-sur- Seine. Claudel is shown alongside one of the most striking pieces in the show, a beautiful sculpture by Emily Young, The Skies Daughter, carved from a piece of Lapis Lazuli mined in a high mountainous region of North Eastern Afghanistan. As a special event during the exhibition, at 4 pm on Monday 12 June, Prima Ballerina of the English National Ballet, Natascha Mair will perform The Dying Swan, accompanied by Austrian violinist and composer Yuri Revich, as well as a talk by New York gallerist, Hong Gyu Shin, on Carla Prina and Else-Fischer-Hansen, two 20th-century female artists, whose works feature in the exhibition.

Further afield, Leila Heller gallery in Dubai is showing Beirut based multimedia artist Katya A.Traboulsi’s solo show Perpetual Identities until 1 September. Katya’s show is based on the empty sleeve of a mortar shell that she received for her birthday in 1975. The object, which had blindly sown death where it fell, ended up in her room, raised to the status of a trophy celebrating the courage of fighters or the defeat of enemies. Her later reflections on the mortar shell inspired an installation project Perpetual Identities which sought to divert the weapon from its morbid destiny and make it serve Life. Forty six shells are on display from different countries, each one handmade, using different materials, including ceramics, porcelain, resin, wood, and iron. Each is titled with a country’s name; most are produced by their native artisans. The shell becomes like a ‘book’, an inventory of myths and traditions. The many cultures and societies involved in the project enrich the object with seemingly infinite meanings.

WAAW World has set its sights on helping the public to see and appreciate the art created by female artists that we have been missing for centuries. They’re also keen to show commercial galleries the talent of female artists and their commercial potential.

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Originally published at The Steppe

Historically, it has always been difficult for women to build a successful art career. To get at least some recognition, women used male pseudonyms, or exhibited under the names of their husbands. For example, Judith Leister once used the male pseudonym Frans Hals, and the talented Margaret Keen hid under the name of her husband Walter Keen. 

To find out why this happened and whether the situation has changed today, we talked with the founders and Ambassador of the WAAW World initiative — Dana Quan, Annya Sand, and Catherine Hunt.

Annya Sand  — artist, co-founder of WAAW World. Author of dissertation about gender misrepresentation in the art world for masters Arts and Cultural Enterprise at Central Saint Martins UAL.

Catherine Hunt —  co-founder of WAAW World, former co-chair and founding patron of Young Patrons Circle of V&A Museum. Sarabande Foundation and WELLCHILD ambassadors. Producer of Cultural Events.

Dana Quan — WAAW World founding global ambassador and honorary committee member. WAAW World Media Communications for Central Asia, United Kingdom, and Africa. Independent strategy creative advisor and executive leadership coach for entrepreneurs & business professionals.

What does WAAW stand for and how was it born?

Annya: During Covid, I was finishing my dissertation for Arts & Cultural Enterprise Masters at Central Saint Martins, I took a walk with a friend and fellow committee member of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Catherine Hunt and we were discussing my findings, and research on gender imbalance for female artists in the art world.

Fuelled by our frustration about the inequality that my research shed light on, that very day we took a bold step towards making the art world fairer and more inclusive by creating a community called Women Artists’ Art Week, abbreviated as WAAW.

Catherine: WAAW launched on International Women’s Day in 2022 with an array of support from women in the arts, gallerists, and institutions. We are dedicated to lobbying galleries to take on more female artists in the future. WAAW was born out of the need to champion women artists and encourage galleries to support them in having a more stable career as artists.

Dana: Being invited to join WAAW on the significant day of its launch in 2022, especially during International Women’s Day, was truly memorable. Furthermore, being appointed by my dear & talented friends Annya & Catherine to be on the honorary committee and serve as a founding ambassador in Kazakhstan, Africa, and the UK is an incredible opportunity. It allows me to represent and support the WAAW movement actively, fostering its values through transparent communication, meaningful engagements, and influential advocacy.

This involvement aims to create international exposure, paving the way for more sustainable and creative opportunities to flourish.

Why is the WAAW World important?

Annya: Here is a quick glimpse of the problem that women artists have been facing for decades, and even in modern times when we might think that this should no longer be the case: Galleries and museums are full of world-famous artwork, but women have long been underrepresented in the art world and on their walls. Why? For starters, there’s the fact that until the 20th century, women were generally excluded from art academies and highly-prized apprenticeships, where men were trained in arts such as painting and sculpture.

Gender bias remains a major problem in the modern art world. In 2017, female artists accounted for just 4% of the National Gallery of Scotland’s collection and 20% of the Whitworth Manchester’s, and less than a quarter (22%) of solo shows presented by London’s major commercial galleries were by women artists.

According to a report by the Freedlands Foundation, women continue to be excluded from the mainstream commercial art market despite their best efforts to participate. These grim statistics make it all the more important to search out and support exhibitions featuring work by female artists, past and present. Things may be slowly getting better but it is still not enough. For example, reports by Artsy find that work by women accounted for less than 9.8% of global auction sales in 2022. If you ask me it is still not good enough, frankly, it’s embarrassing.

We see an increase in female artists’ representation every year. Do you think gender equality in the art world is a realistic goal and does gender play a role in the quality of art?

Annya: It is 100% realistic, that is why we started the WAAW movement, to get there faster.

Gender is irrelevant when it comes to the quality of art.

What is the typical career path for a female artist these days?

Catherine: Ultimately we have seen from the statistics that approximately 90% of artists graduating do not go on to have a career as an artist as they cannot afford the time, resources, or support. So they either can’t get off the ground as an artist or as soon as they have children and get married they get written off by the art market.

Dana: Statistically, the career path for female artists often involves pursuing formal education in fine arts, building a strong portfolio, participating in exhibitions, networking, gaining representation, and continuously developing their craft. It is all about building a consistent, dedicated will to believe and be present & active which sometimes involves gaining support, therefore success for female artists often supported by mentorship, access to funding, inclusive opportunities, breaking gender biases, supportive communities, and platforms that promote their work, these are all values which WAAW embedded in their core philosophy to make a sustainable and gradual change towards better future.

What countries are participating in the WAAW World movement and what are the reasons behind choosing specifically 8-15th of June week?

Annya: We are very lucky to have galleries participating in WAAW all over the world – in the U.K., Europe, America, The Gulf, Central Asia, and Africa.

The WAAW World initiative is open to all commercial art galleries and non-commercial art institutions that are willing to showcase on their premises only female artists for one week — June 8-15 annually. WAAW’s main mission is to encourage commercial art galleries and art institutions to showcase solely female artists during at least one week of the year, on an annual basis. And trust me, only 1 week was a lot to ask for back when we started.

Art institutions and museums also have the option to record videos about their collection of art by female artists (like Pallant House for example) show studios of female artists (like the Somerset House kindly did for us) or even just endorse us (as Unesco, The British Arts Council and British Art Market Federation did).

WAAW World community a curators led tour of Parasol Foundation at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

WAAW World bus tour in support of female artists in London, 2022

As we can see there is a gallery in Kazakhstan that is taking part in the WAAW World movement, could you please tell us more about it?

Annya: We are incredibly excited to have YEMAA Centre of Contemporary Culture joining WAAW. YEMAA has a big focus on developing national contemporary art education and the formation of regional culture.

Dana: The YEMAA Center for Contemporary Culture is a multidisciplinary open space aimed at promoting contemporary culture in the Western region of Kazakhstan. In two years of activity, the center’s team has held 10 exhibitions of contemporary art and successfully worked with 30 artists and curators from all over Kazakhstan.

“I am glad to see that the YEMAA Center has become a new place for the synthesis of innovations, ideas and experience in Atyrau. Our team is always open to new collaborations and the creation of social networks in the art industry. For us, networking is one of the important tools both for introducing modern culture into everyday life and for obtaining invaluable practices from everyday life for integration and transformation in modern culture and art.

I am glad to be a part of the movement supporting women in the arts. This is a very rewarding and completely difficult task. After all, quite often you come across stereotypes and envy, which create a lot of doubts and worries. A woman needs to receive support in the form of respect, faith and love for her work and activities. I thank Dana Quan for telling me about the WAAW movement and inviting me to join. This is especially significant for me, since the YEMAA center was founded by two women — me and Asel Akhmetzhanova. For the first two years of its activity, the center’s team consisted exclusively of women”, — said Malika, the co-founder of YEMAA, shared.

What goes into organizing the WAAW World Week each year and what are the difficulties?

Annya: We work incredibly hard throughout the year to prepare for just one week in June, as we also have our full-time jobs and family commitments. We were very clear from the start that we wanted our initiative to have a long life and impact the art world as much as possible over time, so we had to make it financially and time-sustainable for us to pursue this dream together with our everyday life commitments and work.

We keep working on WAAW World but it’s also forming its world of belonging. It’s almost like watching a child grow and helping to empower its character. It is also essential for us to make sure that the WAAW initiative is environmentally sustainable and that is why we ask galleries and institutions to host exhibitions at their premises.

How do galleries choose a topic for exhibition during the WAAW World Week?

Annya: WAAW World does not get involved in the curating process of galleries (unless we are asked to suggest artists). As long as the artists are women, we did not want to give anyone a reason to say that we have preferential treatment. We also wanted to have as diverse a range of galleries as possible in terms of locations, budgets, and so on to ensure a diverse selection of artists represented by those galleries.

Bowman Sculpture in collaboration with the Guerin Proiects ‘The Power of She – A Tribute to Women in the Arts’ talk and performance by Prima Ballerina of the English National Ballet Natascha Mair accompanied by violinist and composer Yury Revich, Supporting WAAW initiative

How can galleries, artists, and viewers take part in the WAAW World?

Annya: To join our movement, galleries need to register using this link or write on Instagram.

How did WAAW World change galleries?

Annya: After taking part in WAAW a lot of the galleries committed to 50/50% representation, which is a great achievement for the art world.

“Beyond the gallery walls, our involvement in WAAW London resonates on a broader scale, signaling the flourishing East African art scene’s global impact. Illuminating the talent of female artists from this region is our contribution to a global dialogue on gender equality in the arts, fostering recognition and support for African art on the international stage. In essence, our participation in WAAW is a commitment to shaping a more inclusive art world, where every artist has the opportunity to thrive, regardless of gender or origin. We eagerly anticipate the continued growth of this movement and its positive impact on the arts in Africa and beyond. Moreover, thanks to WAAW World, our once little-known gallery received a mention in Forbes in 2023, marking a significant milestone in our journey”, — said Lorna Mashiba Albu, founder of Rangi Gallery.

“I met the co-founders of WAAW, Annya Sand and Catherine Hunt, in the gallery about two years ago. They mentioned their idea to encourage galleries across London to exhibit solely female artists in July to help advance gender equality. I eagerly took up the opportunity to work with them and hosted an all-female group exhibition for their inaugural month. We reached out to new artists specifically for the show and have since continued to work with them, resulting in some stellar solo exhibitions by Sophie-Yen Bretez, Ming Ying, and Ayanfe Olarinde. WAAW was such a pleasure to work with, and we have continued to conceptualize new ways of working together in the future”, — said Annie Pereira, director of the gallery in London, in an interview for Art Plugged.

Q&A in support of WAAW World at the JDMalat Gallery, London, 2023

What does the WAAW team do for the rest of the year?

Dana: The WAAW world team sustains the initiative’s momentum throughout the whole year, creating continuous opportunities, engaging Art Galleries, art Institutions, and organizations to connect and create win-win partnerships, and educational initiatives, and find further ways to support the initiative’s mission and build transparent and honest communications where we feel as part of one WAAW World community, where everyone feels valued.

Catherine: On various occasions throughout the year WAAW has satellite events hosted by institutions and galleries globally from LA Frieze to Miami Basel and more recently Paris Plus a beautiful lunch hosted by our Paris Ambassador, Petra Brunka with attendees from Cartier Foundation and French Institutions. We are planning a great event within revolt exhibition for the new year also. We continue to flood our channels and share with our community great information about women’s exhibitions and women in the arts events and ask WAAW participating galleries to share information with us so we can offer social press too.

In conversation with WAAW World at the Venice Biennale 2022

Annya Sand, Catherine Hunt, Dana Quan at the WAAW World walking tour with The Line London 2022

How do you see WAAW in 10, 20 & 50 years?

Annya: In 10 years a global celebration of female artists in all galleries and art institutions for at least a week of 8-15th of June annually. In 50 years a complete norm of female artists showing and earning at least as much (or more) as male artists.

Dana: In 10, 20 years of exponential progress, where female artists feel the change for better representation, more opportunities to showcase and earn more, and of course continuity in being part of the WAAWWorld movement towards creating the change for the better.

What does WAAW World mean specifically for you?

Annya: To me, it is a live art project with an urgent social impact

Dana: WAAW Wold means more than just a movement, it is a bold invitation to celebrate women, and female artists, creating more opportunities on a global scale and engaging people to be part of this beautiful journey.

What was the response after the first week of WAAW?

Annya: Ah, it was incredible! Positively overwhelming! We did not expect to get so much happiness and support. The first week was a clear sign of the need for WAAW World.

Dana: It was so wonderful to feel so much support, from incredible organizations, female leaders, art institutions, and entrepreneurs during the WAAW London week, where genuine and meaningful connections are made, we felt how deeply & well resonated with the London audience and naturally it led to creating a WAAWWORLD as a Global Movement, where unity to support female artists globally is the core foundation.

“The Corset” (2017), Kalliopi Lemos represented by Gazelli Art House, London, UK.

Published on hypebae.com

London’s Sarabande Foundation is preparing to host “Tangle Teaser,” a captivating showcase that aims to delve into the intricate ties between female power and hair, exploring their deep symbolism and historical significance. By doing so, it offers unique insights into pressing social concerns, reflecting our beliefs and attitudes. Bringing together a diverse group of Sarabande artists, the exhibition employs hair as a medium to tackle themes such as lineage, conditions, tradition, gender, sexuality, politics and liberation.

Part of the Women Artists’ Art Week World initiative, “Tangle Teaser” is a celebration of the remarkable accomplishments of female-identifying artists. The exhibition will unveil the extraordinary works of Anouska Samms, Isabel Castro Jung, Laila Tara H, Paloma Tendero, Rosie Gibbens, Shannon Bono, Camilla Hanney and Shirin Fathi. These talented creatives employ a wide range of mediums, including photography, sculpture, textiles, painting and performance to explore the complex relationships between hair and the contemporary world.

Shirin Fathi, the exhibition’s curator, sheds light on the significance of focusing on hair, stating: “Since the Woman Life Freedom movement in Iran, the meaning of hair has transformed from being a cause for fear into a powerful political tool for resistance.” Visitors to the exhibition can expect a multi-dimensional journey, traversing history, literature, politics and science, all intertwined with artistic interpretations of hair. Each artist presents a unique perspective on the intricate web of meanings associated with hair, offering a reflection of the ever-changing landscape of contemporary society.

Don’t miss the opportunity to view “Tangle Teaser: Untangling the Knots of Female Power” at the Sarabande Foundation from June 8 to 12. Take a glimpse into the showcased artworks in the gallery above.

In case you missed it, a new, Wes Anderson “Asteroid city” exhibition is coming to London.

Sarabande Foundation
22 Hertford Road
London N1 5SH

WAAWWorld discussion with Cora Sheibani (an independent Swiss jewellery of over 20 years)
& Kate Daudy (a visual artist). Interviewed by an art historian Ella Nixon.

video credit @sashafreemind

Moderated by Annya Sand (artist, co-founder of WAAWLondon/WAAWWorld) with Catherine Hunt (art patron, co-founder of WAAWLondon/ WAAWWorld ), Dyana Gravina (artists, founder of Procreate Project), Charlotte Bonham Carter (Associated Lecturer at Central Saint Martins and independent researcher and author), Tyreis Holder (textile artist, poet), Robin Hunter Blake (artist, photographer).

In this first episode of our re-launch we interviewed Annya Sand co-founder of the WAAW London a new initiative aiming to create more representation for female artists inviting London Art’s galleries and non-commercial art institutions to exclusive…

Listen the podcast at womanup.buzzsprout.com

Moderated by Annya Sand (artist, co-founder WAAWWorld/WAAWLondon) with Catherine Hunt (art patron, co-founder WAAWWorld/WAAWLondon), Dr Kate McMillan (artist & academic at King’s College, London. Art, Gender & Colonialism. Author:’Representation of female artists in Britain’ for Freelands Foundation), Alina Davey (Senior Director at Sotheby’s), Tima Jam (Blue Rhino art consultancy), Lydia Smith (artist, sculpture).

video credit @sashafreemind