Separate While Unequal: Tricky Women Festival Seeks To Fix Art World Imbalance
Latest“Mei Ling, an idle young Chinese woman, lives alone in her flat, waiting for her lover. One day, she finds a little octopus in the kitchen sink. She decides to adopt it to avoid boredom. The octopus grows up…”
This is the description of French filmmaker Stephanie Lansque’s film Mei Ling. The animated short will be on view as part of the Tricky Women Film Festival. For the past seven years, the Tricky Women festival in Vienna has provided a place for female animators to show their work. The five-day exhibition creates a women-only space for displaying art and forging connections. Mei Ling is just one example of the 181 films, discussions, lectures, and workshops that will continue throughout the weekend. Selected films will be judged by the public and a jury of artists to compete in five categories. It sounds like an amazing opportunity for some artists, but after our discussion earlier this week of the Whitney’s “women’s show,” we have to ask: why have a festival of just female filmmakers?