FiLia, London’s mut-see feminism themed art event, returns for a second year – featuring works by some of the country’s best women artists, interactive installations, and Plarchie the 8-metre knitted squid.
Visitors will be moved, delighted, and challenged by a diverse body of work, including painting, photography, crafting, installation, digital and conceptual art.
The creators range from prominent professionals, young emerging artists, to groups of women coming together in the community.
One of the highlights will be a new work by Mary Branson, who was recently commissioned to create a permanent installation at Westminster to commemorate the Suffrage movement.
Branson’s latest work is a response to her residency in a women’s prison, symbolising the growing challenges and limitations faced by incarcerated women.
The opening night will feature a live interactive artwork by Miss Pokeno, who will engrave women’s memories of verbal abuse onto a vintage oak school table circa 1912, titled “Too Ugly for Words”.
The event leads up to the Feminism in London conference, which will be held on 25 October. FiLia reflects the ideals of sisterhood and mutual support that Feminism in London promotes.
It combines the concept of ‘philia’ – friendship among equals – and ‘filia’, meaning daughter, symbolising the continuity between today’s feminists and the waves of feminism that came before.
As before, the conference places a special emphasis on women in the arts, and the exhibit will be the latest in a series of events, which have included the Vagina Monologues and a spoken word night co-hosted with She Grrrowls.
The show runs through 24 October and will be hosted by /i’klectik/, a new experimental art space dedicated to collaborative contemporary work that addresses critical social issues.
