Femme Fierce: women in street art

This March, London will become a hotspot for street art; one thing you may notice is the very high percentage of women. This is no coincidence as it is the return of the Femme Fierce: All Girl Takeover competition for International Women’s Day on March 8th. This all women competition celebrates the underdog of the street art scene with a takeover of Leake Street, with Curious Duke Gallery founder Eleni Duke sitting on the panel of judges to crown this years winner.

 

We spoke to organiser Ayaan Binksy ahead of the day to discuss how and why an all girl urban art festival comes to fruition.

 

What made you address the representation of women in street art?

Because every where I went I only used to see guys and it was hard to decipher who was who from just the pseudonyms so I assumed (wrongly (that there were very few women. During my research I came across the mega artists like Mad C, Faith47 etc. but not much else so I set myself the challenge to unearth a few more. To my surprise and joy, I found over 100 and I still discover new ones today.

 

Do you see yourself as a Women's Rights activist? 

Not really, more of a defender of the under dog and all about a level playing field. My mom taught me to be a feminist.  I have been a woman all my life; I'd be a fool to not to support women and the issues that pertain directly to us. This does not make me anti-men, in the same vein that I support single parents because I am one myself. This does not mean I am against 2 parent households but their struggles are different from mine.

 

Have you seen a marked change in street art in the contents, colour and imagery with the rise of female street artists?

In the last year, I have seen a lot more women go bolder and hit bigger walls. I think it is fantastic how many more are connecting and co-creating with other women and men on the scene. It is also interesting to see how the artists are developing their characters and styles and pushing the boundaries.

 

What would it mean to you to see street art as neither male nor female? For the presence of women to not be shocking?

I don't think we are very far from that point. The more events such as Femme Fierce and organisations such a Women on Walls and Few & Far put on and the more women sign up for events such as Upfest and City of Colours, the less necessary the distinction will be. I will always do Femme Fierce though as we are all about fresh, up-and-coming artists getting their wall alongside the pro's so they can connect, exchange and paint together at other points too.

 

What is shocking though is that bar Kashink, I can't think of a single person painting men!

 

Thanks Ayaan!

 

Keep up to date with Femme Fierce as they gear up for this years contest here and on Twitter @FemmeFierceUK.

 

 

Written by Curious Duke Gallery blogger Sinéad Loftus.

Lover of all art and fluffy cats.