Congratulations, and thank you, for your role in Art+Feminism’s 2024 campaign! According to our dashboard, you joined over 1,500 participants at 97 events worldwide to create and edit over 27,000 Wikipedia articles.
Art+Feminism’s 2024 campaign theme was “Solidarity! Solidarity. Solidarity?: We’re (not) all in this together!” We invited you to join us in unpacking the often-performative buzzword of “solidarity” and transform banner statements into action. Throughout the campaign and across the world, A+F event organizers led innovative and inspiring edit-a-thons, panels, and meetups. Here are some photos, courtesy of you and Wikimedia Commons:
How was Art+Feminism in your region? What did you learn from engaging with this year’s theme? Were there key takeaways or insights? I would love to hear your thoughts on this year’s campaign and how it impacted you and your community. You can reach us anytime at [email protected]
A central goal of the theme was to create space for a deeper reflection on what solidarity means and what it looks like in practice and action held as key inspiration for two new initiatives:
- Virtual Editing Tables: A+F community members worldwide joined us for monthly editing sessions led by art writers, archivists, and Wikipedians. Sessions included “Writing about Art,” “Wiki Editing for Movement Organizers,” “Collective Editing with Wiki Editoras LX,” and “Attention Collectors: Wikimedia Commons Needs You” with The Feminist Institute.
- Art+Feminism Conversations: We held two public discussions that enriched our collective understanding of solidarity, “Online and On the Ground: Reproductive Justice Activism in Maryland” and “Collective Imagination + Radical Futures: Kansas City Organizers on Making Art & Building Power.”
All recordings from those sessions are available on YouTube. We’re so thankful for the many collaborators and participants who helped make all of this work possible.
Perhaps part of reflecting on solidarity is disclosing that it’s been a hard year for the people behind Art+Feminism. For me, the loss of my father earlier this year was compacted by ongoing global strife throughout the world in places such as, but not limited to, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Palestine. And even though the catastrophic scale of collective loss could not have been predicted when we decided on this theme a year ago, it offered a map to navigate our heartache and metabolize despair. I was encouraged both by the support I received from my personal community and from all of you, and also when we shared our statement that Palestine is a Feminist Issue, the many messages we received revealed a real sense of urgency in transforming thoughts into action.
We often harken back to one of our values that “we find joy in our community, knowing it will sustain us in our work.” We take comfort in knowing that together, we are closing information gaps, empowering our communities, and shaping an internet that truly reflects the diverse global histories of art-making.
Art+Feminism is in the midst of planning season and about to go on a much needed two-week long org-wide break (last week of July and first week of August). Be on the lookout for our next campaign launch soon!
Onward,
Kira Wisniewski
Executive Director
Art+Feminism
Image credits:
