(published March/April 2009)
The twentieth annual Oxford International Women's Festival took place from 28 February to 15 March 2009. The theme this year was "Inspirational and Pioneering Women". NOW organized a conference on the first day entitled 'Building Coalitions against War', with a panel of distinguished and international speakers. Later in the day there were workshops aimed at encouraging joint campaigning for peace at the national and international level. A full report of the conference can be found HERE. Details of Alice Ukoko's speech are HERE.
Later on in the Festival, on Tuesday 10 March, NOW put on another event, in collaboration with Amnesty International, Stop Violence against Women (SVAW) and Oxford City. This was called 'Women of our World Unite' and was in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Oxford International Women's Festival.
As many NOW members are also involved in organizing the Festival as a whole, I am starting with some photos of the Lord Mayor's Reception, held on Friday 27 February to welcome our Nicaraguan guests and their Gigantona festival puppet. Next come a few photos of the Festival launch parade on Saturday 28 February, which snaked its way from the Town Hall steps via Cornmarket to Broad Street, to the accompaniment of the drummers and dancers of Sol Samba.
Two videos of parts of our conference are now available online on the website of the Internet Archive. You may see them by clicking HERE. They are currently low resolution Flash files, but may be replaced later this year by larger MPEG2 files, if people prefer. Or you may view the same low-res videos below:(coming soon).
Video: Building Coalitions against War
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
This year, to mark the 20th anniversary of the OIWF, two guests from Oxford's twin town of Leon in Nicaragua were invited to take part in the celebrations. These were Sofia Sanchez Sirias and Milagros Mairena Delgado. Sofia is a member of Viva Leon, a women's cooperative involved in keeping alive carnival traditions including the making of giant puppets called Gigantona.
On Friday 27 February those of us who had been involved in organizing the Festival were invited to a reception in the Lord Mayor's Parlour by the current Lord Mayor, Susanna Pressel. This gave us a chance to meet Sofia and Milagros and see the Gigantona for the first time. Below are one or two photos of the event.
Gigantona and her admirers
From right to left: Susanna, Elena, Sofia, Milagros
Pat and Anne
Two samba dancers
Green cloak
Masked dancer
Gigantona and Lord Mayor Susanna Pressel
To see details of last year's International Women's Festival, click here
This celebratory event took place in Oxford Town Hall on Tuesday evening, 10 March 2009. The event began with drumming by girls from St Christopher's School, Cowley. There were a number of local and international speakers including our Nicaraguan guests Sofia and Milagros. Milagros gave us a presentation about the problems women in Nicaragua have with domestic violence and inadequate health care, while Sofia spoke about the Viva Leon! co-operative which aims to keep alive the traditions of carnival, such as puppet-making. There was also a chance to sample Fairtrade food and view an exhibition of paintings.
Lord Mayor Susanna Pressel opens the event
Drummers from St Christopher's School, Cowley
Four drummers - detail