|
"For those who missed the March or who wished to get a better look at various banners, the installations at the four venues served very well.. The Municipal Building atrium displayed the banners of the more well-known organizations- the Women's Inter-church Council, The women's Committee of the Calgary and District Labour Council, and the Calgary Birth Control Association. For the most part, these banners were well crafted and direct in their message. Displaying them in City Hall, where they would be noticed by downtown workers and the general public, was a strategic decision, as it conveyed a sense of mainstream support for the goals of IWD. A few pleasant surprises-The Lesbian Mothers' Support Society banner and the colourful, often sharply political, squares quilted by volunteers at the Women's Resource Centre- served to remind people that the Women's movement is broadly based and inclusive. Janine Hall's frieze of jubilant women was installed in one of the plus 15 windows of the Performing Arts Centre."
ART IN THE MARCH
Celebrating our different voices
Amy Gogarty
Artichoke magazine, summer 1993
ç Amy Gogarty
"Some 40 staff members at the Calgary Sexual Assault Centre each chose a women from "herstory" who had personally inspired them: Marie Curie, Mary Wollstonecraft, Audrey Lorde (Author, poet, black activist), and Manon Rheaume (first woman to play NHL Hockey) were among the women chosen. Each woman's achievement was researched, and recognized by a banner, which was carried by a staff member who often dressed the part as well. Restoring the record of other women's courage and accomplishment inspired these women, who confront difficult circumstances in their workplace on a daily basis."
Amy Gogarty
ART IN THE MARCH
Celebrating Our Different Voices
Artichoke magazine, summer 1993
..."A welcome note of hilarity was struck by the Spring Board Dance Collective's We Weren't All Meant To Be Pink Flamingos. Wearing hot pink leotards with feathery bum wraps, and, at times - black rubber flippers - the dancers enacted madcap parodies of feminine deportment, Latino dirty dancing, tangos,and other assorted actions. The parodies succeeded due to the obvious skill and control of the dancers. A more serious note was struck by Homa Niroobakhsh, with I Was Born A Girl. Her poignant appeal to Canadian women asked for support for about-to-be-deported Iranian women whose crime was to crave a tiny bit of the freedom taken for granted by the audience.
This appeal was but one further reminder of the terrifying, repressive conditions that govern the lives of many women, despite the encouraging advances made in developed countries. If there is a message to come out of events such as International Women's Day, it must be to begin to seriously address these conditions. All to often, we accept our own well-being and success, or see them as reason enough to abandon the original goals of the women's movement. Reminders such as Homa's are calls to action to keep up the fight for equality and respect for human rights, regardless of gender, world-wide. Hopefully. IWD through such inclusive organizing strategies as Art In The March, will grow in strength and effectiveness, and women will find support in sisters around the world to combat sexism, child abuse, racism, and terror. The March in Calgary is part of a global effort to regenerate and change the world- let's all work to see it grow!"
ART IN THE MARCH
Celebrating Our Different Voices
Amy Gogarty
Artichoke Magazine summer 1993
ç Amy Gogarty
"Well-known artists also contributed to the event. Barbara Todd and her son Louis Century, from Banff, carried a lively quilt based on Louis' drawings of moons, stars, birds and airplanes which read "The sky is for birds, not missiles". Mireille Perron and Lorne Falk distributed brightly coloured cotton gloves with the message "You are safe in hands, yours". During the performance evening at The New Gallery, participants were requested to write their names on the card inside and to pin the glove on a giant map of Alberta.
During the March, Leslie Sweder and thirteen friends performed Hologynics, in which she travelled along a designated route carrying galvanized pails on a bamboo yoke. Along the route, each of her friends stepped forward to contribute a resin-covered apple to her bucket. The performance was videotaped by Colleen Kerr, and the tape, buckets, dirt, and apples were installed in the alcove of The New Gallery. The performance blended medieval elements of folklore, witchcraft,and women's wisdom with a sobering image of the scapegoat- as well as positive images of friendship and the reclamation of personal history. A more boisterous performance was enacted by the gargantuan figures of the Green Fools, Christine Cook and Dean Bareham. The garishly tarted-up Pierrette and her cadaverous partner on stilts contributed a special merrymaking and burlesque."
ART IN THE March
Celebrating Our Different Voices
Amy Gogarty
Artichoke magazine summer 1993
ç Amy Gogarty