By Tiffany Edwards , University Relations
Guerrilla Girls on Tour
“Art is subversive because it reminds people of what has been buried."
—Jan Cohen-Cruz in Introduction to Community Art and Activism
The arts have a unique ability to both inspire and challenge society. The Women’s and Gender Studies program plans to tap into that creative energy when it hosts the conference, “Creative Action: Gender and the Arts,” March 29-31.
Its mission is to examine how the arts can be used for social and political action. Artists and scholars will discuss their views on how expressive mediums of all types - dance, theatre, music, film, literature, visual arts, and other forms — are used to raise social consciousness and rethink identity norms, or conversely, to incite violence and encourage intolerance. Three public performances will be held, including an appearance by the comical and thought-provoking Guerrilla Girls on Tour.
Presentations will be given during the day on topics such as “Rock ‘n’ Roll and Women’s Empowerment,” “Encouraging Activism through Spoken Word at Bennett College for Women,” and “From La Esuelita to Abu Ghraib – Human Rights Violations in the Name of Freedom and Safety,” among others. Speakers will include faculty and students from numerous North Carolina colleges and universities (UNCG, UNC Charlotte, East Carolina University, Meredith, Wake Forest, Bennett, UNC Chapel Hill, UNC Wilmington), as well as guest speakers traveling from across the nation.
In the evenings, featured performances will bring the philosophical discussions to life. Events, which are open to the public free-of-charge, include:
• “Without a Trace” (Sin dejar huella) – March 29 at 7 p.m., Jarrell Lecture Hall, Jackson Library. Film screening and conversation with Mexican filmmaker María Novaro. A native of Mexico City, Novaro has directed four feature-length films – “Lola” (1989), “Danzón” (1991), “The Garden of Eden” (1994) and “Without a Trace” (2000). The films have appeared in such well known festivals as Cannes, Venice and Sundance. “Without a Trace” follows two women on a journey across Mexico as they flee their troubled pasts.
• “Star-Spangled Girls” - March 30 at 8 p.m., Elliott University Center Auditorium. Playwright Brenda Schleunes mined the UNCG Women Veterans Historical Collection and, based on the words of 31 women, created five composite characters who meet and reminisce 20 years after World War II. The Touring Theatre Ensemble of North Carolina, founded by Schleunes, will perform the play, which premiered at UNCG last November.
• “Feminists Are Funny” – March 31 at 7:30 p.m., Elliott University Center Auditorium. The ensemble cast, donning masks, portrays some of the world’s most colorful female activists – from Coco Chanel, Edith Head and Julia Child to Lorraine Hansberry, the first Black playwright to have her work produced on Broadway, and Loie Fuller, an innovative dancer, Vaudevillian and leader in stage lighting techniques. Gloria Steinem once said, “No one characterizes the humor and humanity of the women’s movement better than ‘Guerrilla Girls on Tour.’”
The Guerilla Girls on Tour’s performance will be the culmination of a two-day residency that includes “From Attitude to Activism,” a poster/performance workshop, and “Street Theatre Tactics,” a workshop for anyone interested in creating short dramatic pieces to be used as a protest tool. A special workshop for area high school students – Arts and Activism – will also be held thanks to a grant from the Community Foundation of Greensboro.
Registration is available online at www.uncg.edu/wms/secondary_pages/conference/index.html.
Cost for the three-day workshop, including lunch, is $75. UNCG student and faculty pricing is $30, including lunch, and $15, without lunch. Evening performances are free. For more information, call the UNCG Women’s and Gender Studies program at 334-5673 or visit www.uncg.edu/wms.
This event is also sponsored by the Weatherspoon Art Museum, Multicultural Resource Center, Jackson Library, Friends of the Library, the Lloyd International Honors College, the Center for New North Carolinians, and the UNCG departments of dance, theatre and romance languages.
