The first meeting of the women’s initiative “Women in Art” (WOM.A) was held on the rooftop of Karamanlaki Square in September 2020.

“The problem of gender inequality in culture was actively discussed in the groups,” explains director Erifili Giannakopoulou.

“The conversations, of course, were isolated,” she comments, until she and director Io Voulgarakis decided to invite all women in the arts who expressed similar concerns about the discrimination they face because of their gender to the discussion. On this roof were representatives of all areas: theatre, music, dance, visual arts, cinema, television production. The first simple conclusion from these public confessions was that women from different places made similar requests.

“Common stories began, and we quickly realized that we were not alone,” notes actress Amalia Kavali, recently awarded the Melina Mercouri theater award. “Everything we experienced was not an exaggeration and we did nothing wrong,” he adds. “This first meeting had a taste of exchange and verification,” confirms actress Katerina Mavrogeorgi.

“It is worth saying that all this is not motivated by some kind of “whining”, this is a holiday, this is an occasion for women to meet,” says Erifuli Giannakopoulou.

“You always feel anxiety when it comes to a job offer or a job application, it’s just that in our case, we found that anxiety multiplied because we had to think about managing it in a different way,” Erifili says.

“You wear a kind of “uniform” in your professional field, you “line up” behavior, prevent reactions, suppress any tenderness that you have as a person so as not to push conclusions. If you look cute, you are stupid or incompetent. If you’re not aggressive, you don’t know your job,” she adds. “On the other hand, at a business meeting, you have to put up with listening to “Amalitsa”, a girl. Violence can take many forms,” Amalia emphasizes.

“It can start with diminutives, which immediately set the tone for the conversation, and reach the marginalization of the artist. We wanted to cover every aspect of sexism, from the very subtle to the blatant. And above all to explore what place belongs to us in art. How many women hold leadership positions in public organizations. How many directors, how many choreographers.

At the three-day multi-themed festival that they organize from May 31 to June 01 at the Association of Greek Archaeologists, in addition to shows, screenings, exhibitions, performances and musical evenings, they also hold discussions about institutions and the representation of women in them with the participation of important cultural institutions. “It is worth saying that all this is not motivated by some kind of“ whining ”, this is a holiday, this is an occasion for women to meet. We are a “flexible” group that simply reacts to what is happening,” Erifili says. Their symbol is an eraser designed by graphic designer Giorgos Gerakianakis.

“The eraser, which symbolizes the ability to change something, erases patriarchy and creates a clean page for correcting stereotypes,” comments Katerina Mavrogeorgi.