Sweet ‘Art’s femfest was borne from our missions and values and identifying a need for arts festivals to focus on and privilege the voices and experiences of those identifying as women. We have selected an array of performance artists, filmmakers, visual artists, makers and designers to be featured throughout the festival, which aims to showcase artists in a range of ways and through various platforms from a contemporary exhibition, to interactive performance pieces and maker fair.

femfest will open with a short film night, with a selection of films chosen by emerging curator Christine Pungong, exploring a multitude of themes such as female abjection, desire, friendship, trauma, assault and misogynoir - though each in very distinct ways.

The festival continues with our contemporary visual art exhibition, held over 3 floors and showcasing the work of 70 visual artists exploring themes of feminine identity with work that celebrates, critiques and challenges what we think of as “female”; artists such as Karen Byrne use sculptural forms to critique representations of the female form in culture, Agnes Eva Molnar creates humerous photographic tributes to feminist groups, and painter Fabienne Jenny Jacquet creates semi-abstract works diarizing her experience of misogyny.

Live art performances will be ongoing throughout the duration of the exhibition. Among others, Rub being performed by artist Amanda Struver questions societal expectations of female pleasure, sensuality, and maternity. The Existential Plumber’s Collective will present the Existentialist Plumbers’ Parlour, where in comfortable and chic surroundings, along with a soothing soundtrack of flushing toilets, an audience will be invited to an intimate and contemplative reading experience of their Plumbers’ Digest.

Sweet ‘Art will also be producing issue 2 of their Sweet ‘Art zine, a participatory artwork, to be made in collaboration with visitors to the exhibition, alongside an immersive installation created by artist Freya Nash featuring Sweet ‘Art’s zine and feminist book library. Self-publications have a long history of political resistance, with movements such as the Riot Grrrl movement, with women producing zines with radical and feminist content. The femfest zine workshop will allow audiences to express their responses to the artwork on show, as well as contributing their own ideas to the themes of the exhibition and will grow organically throughout the festival’s duration.

For one day only, Sweet ‘Art will also be hosting femfair, a market for 30 female or non-binary identifying artists, designers and makers selling work to visitors. Stands include artists Jess de Wahls, who will be selling a selection of her feminist felt portraits, and klaus is koming who recently exhibited as part of the Coming Out exhibition at the Walker Art Gallery.

Join us for our art party, which will be a fun-filled night including all of the above, as well as DJ’s, drinks courtesy of our sponsor Fentimans, goody bags and the notorious vagina cup cakes.