International Women’s Day at HCA

International Women’s Day is a global celebration of the achievements of women, as well as a continual call to action around social justice and equality.   

This blog is proud to share a small example of staff and student work which speaks to this celebration, including some banners made for the amazing International Women’s Day: A Poster Parade held on Sunday in Hereford. You can see some of the posters as works in progress below. Huge thanks to Chloe Wheater from MA Curating, and Nancy Nicklin (lecturer and technical demonstrator) for their work with students creating posters in the textile workshops.

We’ll share a glimpse of the banners in situ at The Courtyard (Hereford’s vibrant art centre) later, but first, here’s some work that was submitted by students on the Graphics and Media Design (B.A. Hons) degree course following a call out from module leader Alison Eddy. 

Cat Oates

Cat Oakes’s fantastic collage cleverly uses typeface and vintage images to make an incisive point about gender.r stereotypes. This brings an appropriate punk graphic look that is bold enough to stand out on screen for a potential social media campaign. 

Midoriya Collins

Midoriya Collins, also a first-year Graphics and Media Design student,  cleverly uses a potentially contentious symbol and reframes it to communicate an attention-grabbing visual message. 

Seren Morgan

Seren Morgan’s work in progress is moving image which speaks to Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Halsey’s poem, Inconvenient Woman. In the poem, Halsey shows the entrenched double-standards that are part of our society, and the bias women face in public and private life. You can watch Halsey’s speech on YouTube. 

For more examples of work from HCA students that speaks out against female stereotypes, here’s work from Olivia Shakespeare (B.A (Hons) Photography) 

Olivia Shakespeare

Before we move on to the banners from the Hereford International Women’s Day March on Sunday, huge thanks to the Professional Practice module leader for Graphics and Media Design, Alison Eddy, for sharing her personal practice with us. Her piece, Spirit Undiminished, was created for the celebration of 50 years of Amnesty International and their work on women’s rights and shown as part of a group show at the Tobacco factory, Bristol. 

Spirit, Undiminished (Alison Eddy, 2012)

Finally, how brilliant to see the banners for the International Women’s Day parade on Sunday in The Courtyard Theatre this morning.

We also got the chance to chat briefly with Clare Wichbold about her book, ‘Hard Work – But Glorious: stories from the Herefordshire Suffrage Campaign’ which unearths and celebrates the stories of Herefordshire Suffragettes.

Co-organised by Lin Mathias, HCA graduate, the International Women’s Day parade was a highly successful event which also fundraised for West Mercia Rape and Sexual Assault Counselling. 

The United Nations theme for International Women’s Day 2022 celebrates and recognises the impact of women and girls around the world on adapting and mitigating the effects of climate change, in order to support global sustainability. 

#IWD2022 #BreakTheBias