Description
GraffitiA, the project proposed by Quantic Association, contributes to making women more active in claiming gender equality, an essential component of any democratic society. The project’s objectives are: promoting gender equality and combating hate speech against women by artistic means; promoting active citizenship and facilitating the process of empowerment among women, by involving them in activities such as graffiti, street art, graphics and illustration; creating situations and spaces (online and offline) for young artists to be united, to make their voice heard. The project aims: to create an online platform dedicated to artists of street art and a thematic participatory library; to organize 5 workshops on activism and participatory art, graffiti, street art, graphics and illustrations, on topics that stimulate reflection on the principles of gender equality; to involve 75 young artists in street art interventions and collective activities. Our project also proposes a street art intervention in the public space and an interdisciplinary publication which brings into public discussion taboo topics such as hate speech, violence against women, sexual harassment.
Summary of project results
According to The Global Index of Gender Disparities 2013, gender discrimination still remains one of the challenges the whole society faces today. Globally, there are major gaps regarding the access of women and men to resources and opportunities, participation and involvement in the social, economic, political and cultural life. GraffitiA project tackled gender discrimination and used means of participatory art as tools for promoting gender equity. GraffitiA promoted street art and graffiti as efficient tools for women to reclaim their active citizenship, to freely express ideas and opinions, to fight for a new society, where human rights are being respected and people are equal. In Romania, female artists are facing gender discrimination every day: their professional achievements are marginalised or dominated by masculine critical perspectives. GraffitiA aimed to encourage young female artists to actively involve in the street art and graffiti movement and to use participatory art as a tool for highlighting the problems they confront with in today’s society. The project goal was achieved through: - activities focused on combating hate speech against women: organising "girls only" events and workshops, building an online platform which promotes female artists from Romania and from abroad, organising female artists' exhibitions, doing the first graffiti mural by a female artist in Bucharest; editing and distributing Urban Collectors - GraffitiA Edition, an artistic album with feminine works of art; - empowering girls by involving them in creative activities: 10 female volunteers, 7 female experts, more than 100 young women participating in workshops; 30 young female artists exhibited their art works during GraffitiA Closing Party, 2 female artists organised their own exhibition inside Urban Collectors Public Library, 1 female artist doing the first mural in Bucharest, 15 female artists promoted through the Urban Collectors album, more than 100 female artists promoted online, on urbancollectors.ro; - organising spaces for female street artists in order for them to be united under a common cause, and to make their voice and message heard: Urban Collectors Library, urbancollectors.ro, GraffitiA facebook page, the public space (for murals), the album Urban Collectors, GraffitiA Edition.
Summary of bilateral results