Written by: on March 7, 2019
It’s our favourite day of the year (except maybe our birthday). We need a lot more than a day to celebrate the fantastic achievements of women but we’ll take what we can get!
International Women’s Day is a day of celebration.
The theme this year is balance. For us, that means a world that is gender-balanced with equal opportunities for all.
“Balance is not a women’s issue, it’s a business issue.” – International Women’s Day
We couldn’t agree more. That’s why it’s our mission to mentor and inspire girls so they know they can achieve more. When the time comes they will be able to go into the world of work equipped with the digital skills to become the next generation of innovators.
Feeling inspired? Check out some of the great events in Liverpool to celebrate International Women’s Day. Find out what’s on below:
Victoria Gallery and Museum (University of Liverpool).
Friday 8 March, 6-7pm
Free
“This talk is a personal reflection on aspects of Eleanor Rathbone’s life and work, seen through moments in my own family history. Her political work on behalf of refugees and of ‘enemy alien’ internees in Britain in the 1930s and early 1940s had been noted and appreciated by my father, a refugee from Germany in the late 1930s, who spent a year in an Isle of Man internment camp. I grew up knowing her name and hearing her praise. But I did not then know anything about the work she is more celebrated for, specifically her role in promoting family allowances and other feminist causes.”
Janet Wolff, Professor Emerita of Cultural Sociology at the University of Manchester.
Click here to book tickets.
Museum of Liverpool
Exhibiting Now
Free
The 1918 Club is a discussion forum for women, established by Eleanor Rathbone in 1918, that meets regularly in Liverpool. The group created this display, working with objects relating to women’s suffrage in the Museum of Liverpool’s collections.
After viewing the objects and choosing which ones would best illustrate the story, participants then wrote labels to explain why these objects were important and what they tell us about the Liverpool campaign to give women the right to vote.
This display also includes oral history recordings of a number of Suffragettes telling their experiences first-hand.
This is part of a series of displays exploring politics and community activism in the city.
Find out more here.
Walker Art Gallery
Friday 8 March, 2pm
Free
Join Jessie Petheram, Tomlinson Assistant Curator, and Kate O’Donoghue, National Gallery Curatorial Trainee, for a talk on two women artists in the Walker Art Gallery’s collection.
Anne Holt (1821-1885) was a Liverpool amateur artist who travelled in Britain, Europe and North America, drawing for pleasure and recollection. She represents many other women of her time who loved to draw and paint but who have often been neglected by historians of watercolour and landscape art.
Elisabetta Sirani (1638-1665) was a successful seventeenth-century artist working in Bologna, Italy. She began painting professionally by the age of 17 and her talents soon earned her fame across Europe. This includes a rare chance to see drawings and watercolours by these two women which are usually kept in storage. They will be shown in Make Space for this occasion to celebrate International Women’s Day.
This is a free drop-in event.
Find out more here.
International Slavery Museum
Friday 8 March, 3-4pm
Free
Join poetess Empressjai for a talk celebrating the life of Nanny of the Maroons.
Nanny of the Maroons is a national hero in Jamaica and was part of a group of enslaved people who managed to set up their own thriving communities after escaping from slavery in the Mountains of Jamaica. Her incredible story has been passed down the generations through oral histories.
This is a free drop-in event.
Find out more here.
The Women’s Organisation
Friday 8 March
Free
This International Women’s Day The Women’s Organisation’s Business Club invites you to hear how ‘Women can…’. Joining us are two inspirational women who have broken glass ceilings and made their way to the top. Hear their journey and their tips on growing your business and be inspired as we explore the International Women’s Day theme for this year #BalanceforBetter.
The panel feature Sue Grindrod, Chief Executive Royal Albert Dock and Marie Millard OBE, Chief Executive for Nichols PPLC.
Click here to find out more.
Let us know of any great events you come across in the city.
International Women’s Day has been celebrated every year since 1911. It’s a day for organisations and individuals to come together and celebrate the achievements of women everywhere. It’s also a day to reflect on the current state of gender equality and to campaign for an acceleration of gender parity. Whether you are attending an event in honour of the day, or simply wearing purple the colour for symbolising women, remember it’s a day of celebration and unity.
The campaign asks us to strike the #BalanceForBetter pose to mark the day and post a picture of this on social media using the hashtags below. Find out more here.
Have an inspirational International Women’s Day!
#IWD2019
#BalanceforBetter