Let’s Celebrate the Best of Women 2020: from Politics to Art

Featured image by Freelance Designer + Illustrator Audrey Lee

The past 12 months have been a roller coaster of emotions, events that have unravelled at a faster pace than fast. It wasn’t the year most of us expected, and while many events aren’t worth celebrating but are worth remembering, many others are worth both – celebrating and remembering. As today is International Women’s Day (IWD), the .ART team wants to celebrate women’s achievement, highlighting events that have brought women’s equality a step further and look towards the future!  

How did International Women’s Day Start?
International Women’s Day is more than 100 years old but still, have the relevance and critical importance of a spring chicken. In March of 1911, in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, the first day for women is celebrated by women and man – more than one million of them- who participated in public events showing their support to the women across the world. Since then, many more events have taken place globally, and since 1975 it is on March 8th that International Women Day is celebrated.  

Women marching at the Women’s Strike for Equality, New York, N.Y., Aug. 26, 1970. John Olson—The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images

The genesis of this event is traced back to the twentieth century and emerged from activities of labour movement in Europ as well as North America, which reflected on the growing demand on women to participate in the workforce and women wanting equal participation.  

Since its inception, IWD has been the occasion to stop for a moment and take the opportunity to reflect on progress toward gender equality as well as acknowledging and celebrating milestones, important events, courage and determination of women around the world who, by their action, have made a significant contribution to advance gender equality, in their communities and globally.  

Many organisations, media outlets and news channels also produced their top 25, 50, 100 women of the year. It has been a terrific year for female leadership around the world, with women rising (more than man) to the unexpected challenges that have come our ways with the Coronavirus global pandemic. Milestones and amazing contribution (and history!) have been made by women this year in many fields, from politic to sport to science and culture – in short, in society at large. Here are some of the milestones or event that have caught our attention!

Many Firsts in the USA Political Sphere
Kamala Harris made history in November when she became the first woman vice president-elect in the United States of America – an important victory for women but even more so to Black and South Asian women!  

“While I may be the first woman in this office, I won’t be the last. Because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities.” -Kamal Harris

Harris in Los Angeles with beneficiaries of the DREAM Act—which the senator has made a priority to protect.Photographed by Zoe Ghertner, Vogue, April 2018

Two women take home Nobel Prize in Chemistry
While Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna might not have been the first women to have been awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, they are, in fact, sixth and seven. It is the first time that two women to share this prestigious award. 

You crossed a line. Women are covering ground in the NFL
In Football, Sarah Thomas, an American football official in the NFL, is the first women to officiate a playoff game as a referee, & Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant coaches Maral Javadifar and Lori Locust became the first female coaches to win a Super Bowl title.  

“I never set out, at all, to be the first in any of this, but knowing the impact I’m having on not just my daughter, but young girls, women everywhere – and young men and men too – is remarkable.” -Sarah Thomas

Jennifer King, left, is in her first season on Washington’s staff, while Callie Brownson, right, is the chief of staff for Browns first-year coach Kevin Stefanski. Sarah Thomas, center, became the league’s first female official in 2015, has worked in the postseason and is now making more history. (Photo courtesy of Laura Okmin/Twitter

Freeing women from (part of) the cost of their period
Scotland is now the first country in the world to offer free for all period products. MSP Monica Lennon believes the historic decision will “make a difference to the lives of women and girls and everyone who menstruates.” 

India is also recognising the importance of access to sanitary products as well and extend their Menstrual Hygiene Scheme to cities in the state of Tamil Nadu.  

Art soothes and leads to social impact
Reikhan Kasimova is the brilliant mind and co-founder of .ART is behind the noteworthy initiative that is Flower For Medics. Since last spring, her simple idea, giving flowers to brighten the days of medics going to war with COVID-19 daily, became a social movement with impacts for medics and artists. From physical flowers to artistic ones, her idea fundraised more than 7 million rubles and made her gratifying idea one with an amazing impact too! 

Discover more about this initiative by reading this article or following the #flowerformedics #flowerfordoctors #flower4medics on Instagram. 

The Future is FEMALE – Time’s First Kid of the Year is a woman in the making
A fifteen-year-old Gitanjali Rao has become TIME’s first Kid of the Year celebrates girl power and women in science. For years already, this brilliant young mind has been occupied by how science and technology can foster social change. Not only did she develop Kindly, an app based on IA and detect cyberbullying early on, but she is also currently working on inexpensive and accurate means of detecting bio-contaminants in water. We can’t wait to see what else this woman to be will achieve with her strong desire to introduce positivity and a sense of community on a global scale.

New Zealand, a small country with big actions
Nanaia Mahuta has been appointed to the role of Minister of Foreign Affairs. She is the nation’s first Indigenous woman to hold the position. (Side note, New Zealand also has the youngest female head of Gouvernement in the world since 2017 when they elected Jacinda Ardern. New Zealand might be a small country. They have the most diverse cabinet too!) 

The desire for love wins more than the heart
Whitney Wolfe Herd, CEO of Bumble, youngest female founder to take a Tech Unicorn a company worth more than a billion of $$$ public, and she did it while holding her toddler son, empowering mothers and women worldwide. She is also the youngest self-made female billionaire, for someone who for long was thinking that her parents weren’t proud of her, today they have more than one reasons to do so!

Lab, testing and vaccines – Women are rising to the ticking time bomb challenge
Dr Kizzmekia Corbett, Dr Kathrin Jansen, Dr Katalin Karikó and Dr Lisa Jackson, four of the many women behind the development of the COVID-19 vaccines. 

Every day you can see her Legacy – RIP RBG
When Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed in autumn 2020, a giant pioneer left earth. Through her career, she made progress for family and life work not only for women but also men and has been a leading voice for gender equality, women’s interests, and civil rights and liberties. Her legacy is felt today and will be felt for a long time in many Americans’ daily lives.

As we also look at our .ART community, we are putting 12 women in the spotlight for this incredible year and hopes that these women will inspire young girls, teenagers and other women to follow their dreams and passion and unleash their talent! 

Nina BenFilmmaker and photographer Ninä Benashvili is paying tribute to her birth country, Georgia, through her artwork. In her movie Children of Nikozi, art is a way for people to heal from the atrocities they have endured. 

You can explore her film & photography on Instagram @childrenofnikozi or look at his work here ninaben.art. 

Danielle Clarke Danielle Clarke is a contemporary realist oil painter whose art is focused on female figures and shapes. She aims at spreading body positivity, from the model during the reference shoot to the women who follow her artwork. She praises imperfections to glorify them. 

Visit her website, danielleclarke.art, to discover more about her work to find her under @dani_paintings on Instagram.    

Shanara Eisan Shanara Eisan uses the medium of collage to express her struggle for environmental sustainability, as she has studied environmental management and sustainability. She is highlighting interrelationships, especially between one and one’s surrounding environment. 

Her work can be appreciated on Instagram under the handle @shanaraeisan.art or her .art website, shanaraeisan.art. 

Elisabeth GunawanElisabeth Gunawan is an actor, theatre-maker and physical performer who has demonstrated her acting talents through several performances. She has worked alongside many pioneers of drama and likes to explore ways in which her audience can experience the world in a new way. 

Look into her universe by strolling through her website elisabethgunawan.art , or glancing at her on Instagram @elisabettygun. 

Zoë Jones Zoë Jones wears several hats: she practices realistic portrait drawing, painting and tattoo. She is inspired by both past and present artists and has an interest in Art Nouveau. 

To see it yourself, follow her on Instagram under @joezones.art, or pay her website joezones.art a visit.    

Hazey Labs Artist and photographer Hazey Labs describes her work as “experimental photography”. Much of her work is nature and water-inspired. She focused her work on lines, shapes and patterns and became later devoted to light and colour. 

Her work can be appreciated on Instagram by looking into @hazeylabs or her .art website, hazeylabs.art. 

Cinda ManinsCinda Manins is a ceramic artist who creates abstract expressionist sculptural forms. She practices hand building in accordance with her values of Humanism and Wabi-Sabi through the exploration of textural varieties.  

Visit her website, cindamanins.art , to discover more about her work to find her under @cinda_manins_art Instagram.    

Leslie SwederLeslie Sweder in an interdisciplinary artist, as she works on several media – such as video, painting and photography. She has an interest in nature and especially in water, of which she documents what she calls “small movement”. 

Look into her universe by visiting her website sweder.art or following her on Instagram @lesliesweder. 

Amanda Vigor Amanda Vigor produces colourful paintings and illustrations made of gouache and watercolour. Her artwork is, most of the time, connected to storytelling. She is inspired by nature, and much of what she creates is dedicated to children’s book illustrations. 

You can discover more about her practice on her website at amandavigor.art or by looking at her work on Instagram under @amandavigor_. 

Chun Wang Chun Wang’s work is a mix of art and technologies, as she wants to engage a contemporary audience. She’s both engaged with art as a creator and a curator. Art is, for her, a way to connect people. 

Visit her website, chunwang.art, to discover more about her work to find her under @chunwang.art on Instagram. 

Elizabeth WewersElizabeth Wewers has opted for a full life: she is working full-time in strategic Marketing and is practising painting as a hobby. She uses resin and acrylic to produce seascapes, wildlife and abstract art. 

Her work can be appreciated on her .art website elisabethwewers.art or Instagram under the handle @lissy_paints .

Last but not least here are some images that have been shared with us through social media and that further illustrating the limitless talent of women in the arts! 

.ART Team is joining the IWD for 2021, and we Choose to Challenge as we too want a world that is more alert, more equal and where achievements are celebrated no matter gender or skin colour!  Learn more about IWD and its yearly theme by visiting internationalwomensday.com!