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In light of celebrations for International Women’s Day, new projects at The National Museum of Contemporary Art are getting ready at the gallery for their newest project. The exhibition is entitled ‘What If Women Ruled the World?’ that would be running in October 2024.
The exhibition is taking place at the Contemporary Art Museum in Athens later this year. Unlike traditional exhibitions that encompass a small section of the museum, this particular show will encase the whole museum itself. It would be showcasing female artists and celebrating women in the arts.
Lola Flash, to name one of the many that will be present at the opening of the exhibitions, is an American photographer who has also been a pioneer for queer visual politics. Confronting themes of gender and sex, Flash intends to make history with her iconic feature ‘SALT,’ constituting of a plethora of photographs of women over the age of sixty.
These women will have had an impact on society, including names such as Esther Cooper Jackson. The genesis for the exhibition owes much of its creation to the visionary installation work of Yael Bartana. Her installation paints the sides of the museum.
Bartana is an Israeli-born artist and filmmaker, her work already being shown in prestigious institutions such as the Tate Modern in London and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. Her work also constitutes of monuments and staged performances all targeted towards confronting themes such as power structures, displacement, and trauma. It seems as if Bartana’s work has inspired young artists, along with the creators of the museum in naming this particular exhibition after one of her pieces.
As the entire museum is becoming a viewing platform celebrating female artists globally, visitors are expecting an immersive experience that praises and amplifies the voices of women in art and culture. Many also hope to meet some of the inspirational artists behind the canvas’, with hopes that they will also be there to spectate each other’s work.
With wars being fought across the planet resulting in the death of women, it is important to consider this exhibition in the light in which it is meant to illuminate in politics. ‘What If Women Ruled the World?’ Therefore, it not only offer a space for creative female artists, but also as a way to explore societal norms and power struggles faced by women in the world today.
Edited By: Ayantika Ghosh