Gunnedah’s International Women’s Day Exhibition 2023 is an eclectic collection of creative art works, which opened on Friday, March 10.
The bi-annual exhibition was held at the Gunnedah Bicentennial Creative Arts Gallery, opening with a black and white dress themed night and featuring a variety of mediums including photographs, paintings and book paper folding.
International Women’s Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.
The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
This year’s theme is #EmbraceEquity.
Gunnedah Shire Council’s cultural precinct team leader Michael Cornford said International Women’s Day was the ideal opportunity to celebrate the Shire’s strong community of creative women.
“There are so many talented, skilled and artistic women in our community and this exhibition is just one way we can celebrate all they have to offer,” he said.
“One of the special things about this exhibition is the collaborative art works submitted by groups of women including Gunnedah Wood Workers Club and The Sisterhood of the Couch Surfing Canvas Collective.”
The exhibition opening will include an interactive book paper folding demonstration by local artist and librarian Christiane Birkett.
A book paper folding installation featured in this year’s exhibition, along with Gunnedah’s Travelling Junk Journal, launched by local artist Jade Punch in August 2021 in response to Covid-19 lockdowns.
Ms Punch wanted to help Gunnedah’s creative women stay connected and utilise their talents and ideas in a time when the art world was at a standstill.
She started things off by taking a deleted hard cover novel from Gunnedah Shire Library and repurposing it as a journal that could be handed from one artist to another.
The journal was a great success and will now feature in the International Women’s Day Exhibition as an interactive display, and women who attend the exhibition are encouraged to add a page or two of their own.
“Come along and discover the unique ideas of our Shire’s women illustrated in ink, paint, paper and film,” Mr Cornford said.
Gunnedah’s International Women’s Day Exhibition 2023 continues until Sunday, 16 April.
