(published April 2007)
The eighteenth annual Oxford International Women's Festival took place from 3 to 18 March 2007. The theme this year was "All Our Futures: Women and the Environment" and as usual NOW made a very worthwhile contribution to the event.
Our event, entitled 'Women as Guardians of the Environment' took place on Monday 12 March at 7:30pm. As in 2006 the venue was Balliol College, Seminar Room XXIII. Our speakers were Dr Maita Kessler and Dr Catherine Bottrill. Dr Maita Kessler, lecturer in Sustainable Design at Oxford Brookes University spoke on the topic of "Survival, Brazilian Women and the Resources". Dr Catherine Bottrill, who is a researcher at the Environmental Change Institute, Oxford University, spoke on "Our Carbon Power: Fast Tracking Low Carbon Living".
The Women's Festival kicked off with a colourful Launch Parade on Saturday 3. The parade started from the East Oxford Community Centre, where we'd hired a room so that we could make our preparations in comparative comfort. We then wended our way down Cowley Road to High Street where we attracted the admiring gazes of many tourists with cameras, then up Turl Street and into Broad Street where the Climate Change Monster did a lap of honour round the small but enthusiastic group of onlookers and our superb samba players, known as Breach of the Peace. It may have been a rather small parade but it was great fun, and I'd like to thank everyone who contributed to the event, whether by making the imaginative props, playing the music, organizing or making a public spectacle of themselves.
Many thanks also to Katy Beinart for videoing the parade and interviewing participants. A small format version of the video, interspersed with scenes from Women in Black vigils, should appear below. Katy also included this video in her exhibition "Standing up for our Futures: A Photographic Exhibition and Video Installation" which was held in the Oxfordshire Record Office, St Luke's Church from 3 - 31 March as one of the Festival events. This was based on a previous exhibition "Women in Black in Black and White", first shown at Fusion (EOCC) from 4 - 20 August 2005.
If people would like to contribute further reports about any aspect of the festival, or photos, please don't hesitate to email me at: eileen@cameron-kirby.freeserve.co.uk.
To see details of last year's International Women's Festival, click here