Reviews / Empowerment
Review: SisterWorks
Empowerment is a tricky word. Behind its trendiness lies lots of different realities, all having in common the incapacity women can sometimes feel to achieve their goals when they’re not empowered.
Historically, women were raised and socialised to stay silent and serve others, and this legacy can still be an obstacle. This is exactly what SisterWorks tries to fight, by putting on events like their first ever all-day workshop programme, created by and for women looking to break into the creative industries. Created by DJ and clothing designer Louisa Jones, and with the backing of more than 60 women from Bristol and beyond, many of whom have prominent jobs in creative industries, the new venture had created a real buzz even before the event.
Their first ever event was a massive affair: participants chose three out of the 28 different workshops offered, all focussed around creative and musical topics, such as singing, songwriting, breakdance, DJing, graffiti, social media, radio presenting, fashion and more, run by industry legends including producer Liz Horsman and musician Hannah Williams.
is needed now More than ever
Sisterworks participants practice their street art in a workshop
What all of the workshops had in common is that they were giving women the tools to express themselves unapologetically. Also, the diversity of the workshops permitted us to cover a large field of skills which pleased everyone.
Some workshops would take a conference form, while others were participatory: the singing and songwriting session, hosted by Nuala Honan, saw participants participate in a singing lesson. The creative writing workshop by Chino Odimba involved her talking about her work, but also invited participants to try free writing, boosting their own creative practices.
Lasting around 50 minutes, the workshops were really interesting, well-constructed and certainly left us wanting more time to delve deeper. But, on balance, the relatively short time slots were absolutely necessary to be able to attend three different workshops in one day and to have a broader idea of what was going on.
Healing and self-love was another theme for the day
The fact that the workshops were only for women allowed us all to feel safe, occupying a space where we could learn and express ourselves without being interrupted or talked over, as unfortunately often happens in mixed-gendered places.
Also, the all-female line-up of workshop practitioners set a clear example, showing that being a women can be creative and confident, as well as creating a trusting space where they can express themselves, ask questions and learn.
There are fewer women in creative and musical fields than men, so events like really matter. Women often lack opportunities and these workshops can be the little push to make us throw ourselves out there and conquer those worlds.
All photos: Saskia Kovandzich
Stay up to date with SisterWorks: www.facebook.com/sisterworks.co
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