OVERVIEW & PURPOSE:

The Women’s March on London is a women-led movement that brought together people of all genders, ages, races, cultures, political affiliations and backgrounds on January 21, 2017, to affirm our shared humanity and pronounce our bold message of resistance and self-determination.

We are empowered by the legions of revolutionary leaders and ancestors who paved the way for us to march, and acknowledge those around the globe who fight for our freedoms. We honor these women and so many more.
They are #WHYWEMARCHLONDON

VALUES & PRINCIPLES:

• They believe that Womens Rights are Human Rights and Human Rights are Womens Rights.
• They wish to create a society in which all women are able to care for their family in safe and healthy environments, free from structural impediments.
• Women deserve to live full and healthy lives, free of violence against our bodies and minds, in particular domestic violence.
• Ending racial profiling and targeting of communities of colour.
• No woman or mother should fear being sexually and physically abused at the hands of the State.
• They believe in Reproductive Freedom. They do not accept local rollbacks, cuts or restrictions on our ability to access quality reproductive healthcare services, birth control, HIV/AIDS care and prevention, or medically accurate sexuality education.
• They firmly declare that LGBTQIA Rights are Human Rights and that it is our obligation to uplift, expand and protect the rights of our gay, lesbian, bi, queer, trans or gender non-conforming sisters, brothers and siblings.
• They believe that creating workforce opportunities that reduce discrimination against women and mothers allow economies to thrive. Nations and industries that support and invest in caregiving and basic workplace protections—including benefits like paid family leave, access to affordable childcare, sick days, healthcare, fair pay, holiday pay, and healthy work environments—have shown growth and increased capacity.
• They believe in equal pay for equal work and the right of all women to be paid equitably.
• All care work–caring for the elderly, caring for the chronically ill, caring for children and supporting independence for people with disabilities–is work, and that the burden of care falls disproportionately on the shoulders of women, particularly women of colour.
• They believe in immigrant and refugee rights regardless of status or country of origin. It is our moral duty to keep families together and empower them to fully participate in, and contribute to, our economy and society.
• Every person and every community in our country has the right to clean water, clean air, and access to and enjoyment of public lands.

A form of activism, typically incorporating elements of anti-capitalism, environmentalism solidarity or 3rd wave feminism, typically referred to as “domestic arts”.

“Knitting circles are sometimes scoffed at as frivolous ‘gossiping circles’ when really, these circles are powerful gatherings”.

Knitting and handicrafts have a long history in protesting, but the pussycat project has been particularly important.

REVOLUTION AND YARN

• In Canada, theres the revolutionary knitting circle, which first made headlines for their project at 2002 G8 Summit
• Australia has the knitting Nannas who protest about environmental issues by holding “knit ins”.
• “Wool against weapons” in the UK knitted a 7 mile long pink “peace scarf” – a year later they repurposed it to thousands of blankets for those in need in war zones and developing nations.
• “Yarn Bombing” reclaims urban spaces by re covering everyday items in brightly coloured knits

Initial Research:

Guerilla Girls

The Guerrilla Girls are Feminist activist artists, over 55 people have been members over the years, some for weeks, some for decades. Their anonymity keeps the focus on the issues and away from who they are. They wear gorilla masks in public as a disguise, they use shocking facts and statistics, humour and outrageous visuals to expose gender and ethnic bias as well as corruption in politics, art, film and pop culture. The Guerrilla Girls have done over 100 street projects, posters and stickers all over the world. They also do projects and exhibitions at galleries and museums, attacking them for their bad behaviour and discriminatory practices right on their own walls.

Some of the Guerrilla Girls projects pose the questions to the public:

why DO WOMEN HAVE TO BE NAKED TO GET INTO MUSIC VIDEOS WHILE 99% OF THE GUYS ARE DRESSED?

Sure, 50% of the artists in the G I R L exhibition are women, but since 2010 only 13% of solo exhibitions have been by women artists. We grafittied one of our early posters to show that not much has changed: BUS COMPANIES ARE (STILL) MORE ENLIGHTENED THAN ART GALLERIES.

In 2016 we re-examined a 1986 poster (It’s Even Worse in Europe) to find out how things were going for women and artists of color in Europe. We sent almost 400 questionnaires to European museums and kunsthalles and let them explain the situation in their own words. We got 100 replies and made an exhibition at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. The 300 who ignored our request? We put their names on the floor where visitors walked all over them.

https://www.guerrillagirls.com/projects/

My work is about the objectification of women in adverts, I found that through extensive research that women were severely oppressed in advertorials in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s, and to some extent still are today. I initially wanted to make my project 50’s style; the message of this would be to show that the oppression of women in adverts has still not improved. I wanted my advert to be made up of typography, in the style of a vintage advert. However, I struggled with this since typography isn’t my strong point. My next idea was to base my poster around the slogan “All available in your local super market.”, implying that all of the terrible outcomes in society from the objectification of women is readily available in your local supermarket. I did a successful photoshoot in ASDA, in particular in the foreign food section. However I found it difficult to find somewhere to place my slogans and text due to the background of the images being so busy.

This lead me on to my next idea; to do a photoshoot, using a mirror as a prop, the concept of this was to show what women really see as their reflection. I felt that a good way to portray this was to use a shocking Tom Ford advert as the reflection in the mirror.

I am happy with the way that my concept was so clearly portrayed in my work, and how people knew the message of my poster having not heard and background information on it. I also am happy with the colour theme of my poster, I use colours from the Tom Ford advert in my text and i think this gave a sleek finish. However I am really unhappy with the lighting of my photography, the images have turned out grainy and dark.

I enjoyed working at a fast pace because it meant that you spent less time planning your project and more time doing and this for me meant that I did a lot more experimentation than I would usually have done. This was a great experience for me because it reflects the way that we would be working in industry.

Having received such a broad brief, I began this project by picking apart the charity itself in a detailed SWOT analysis. From this I was able to pick up on key opportunities that the charity was missing out on. One of the main issues that I picked up on, was that Trekstock is not a well known charity, so I based my fundraising event around a way in which this would become possible – a mass participation event.

Our mass participation event is going to be a ‘Glow Run’. The first reason we decided to do a run was because taking part in a run is beneficial to the person taking part therefore people want to take part in it for personal reasons as well as to raise money for the charity. A glow run is also something that is realistic with the budget that we have been given of £10,000. Not only this but we decided to give our run a twist… It will take place at night and with its focus on glow in the dark accessories and paint it really will “light up the dark” and help young people live through and beyond cancer.

One of the main marketing strategies that we wanted to use for this event is social media. Since the target market for Trekstock is young people, we felt that social media is the best way to target that age group. Firstly, we did a photoshoot which we can use for both social media and for posters to promote the run around universities and collages. It is important to create something which can be shared among people on social media in order to get the most possible people to see it. I also designed some snapchat filters, this will encourage people to film and take photos during the run and this will act as a promotion technique for years to come if this were to become an annual event.

We feel that our run already fits in with the existing wellness theme of Trekstock. We also plan to continue with the colour and aesthetic of Trekstock.

Overall, I think that our ‘Glow run’ will be a successful idea for Trekstock because it is easy to take part in, it is suitable for all ages, for sufferers and non sufferers, and its mass participation nature will definitely make the charity more well known amongst young people, as well as raise a large amount of money for the charity.

We will be holding the magazine release at the Griffin Gallery in Shepherds Bush. We have chosen this location because it has a minimal, white exhibition space, with a rustic look. The Griffin Gallery also has a coffee shop which will turn the experience social. We will also be able to promote buying the magazine by saying “The first 100 people to purchase the magazine, get a free coffee.”