An invitation to participate.

Present Tense : Wāhine Toi Aotearoa
Directory of Women Designers + Designers Speak (Up)
RAMP Gallery, Kirikiriroa / 29 April – 24 May 2019

The Backstory.

The idea came from artist Imogen Taylor, who had expressed her frustrations in sourcing women designers for her feminist zine, Femisphere. The Directory of Women Designers has been set up to establish a contemporary, historic and perpetual index of Aotearoa New Zealand designers who identify as women* of any gender experience, living and deceased, of all diversities — social, sexual, cultural, ethnic — anywhere in the world. It also acts as a resource for clients, collaborators and the wider community to connect specifically with women-identifying designers from Aotearoa. To date, the Directory indexes just over 270 women, and growing.

The Poster Call.

To record the current landscape of women in design and give visibility to the unsung diversity of Aotearoa design, we are calling all members of the Directory of Women Designers* to design a poster using the medium to explore and address any social, cultural, or political issue of your choice.

*not on the Directory? Join now!

The Exhibition.

Present Tense : Wāhine Toi Aotearoa, RAMP Gallery, Kirikiriroa, 29 April – 24 May 2019, will present the posters in various formats, from printed to projected to published online over the course of the exhibition (and beyond). All posters will be collected into the Designers Speak (Up) poster archive, and on social media — follow @designersspeakup on Instagram and Facebook if you haven’t already! A day of conversation and making — kōrero/kai/mahi — will be part of the programme.

The Publication.

An accompanying publication will document the project, and include written contributions to offer contextual discussion around the collective and ongoing exhibition. The intention is for the project to move around Aotearoa and connect with local communities through workshops, talks and discussion groups.

Join In!

To participate in the project (and we would love you to):

• design an A1 poster and send it to us by 14 April 2019.
• contribute a small piece of writing, max 150 words, as a corresponding statement that will accompany the work.

Download the Poster Call guidelines and template. Please read the guidelines carefully. Send your files to Designers Speak (Up) with Present Tense : poster submission in the subject line.

Not a Competition.

Finally (and importantly), this is not a competition! It’s an opportunity to give visibility to all women in design. It’s a chance to be brave and Speak (Up) using the poster medium. And it’s a space for myriad voices to be heard, supported and championed in the wholehearted, collaborative way that is our kaupapa.

x x x x x

Katie Kerr, Alice Connew and Catherine Griffiths
On behalf of Designers Speak (Up) + RAMP Gallery

ps / don’t forget, if you’re not yet on the Directory, add yourselves — and encourage others to join!

Directory of Women Designers
Follow Designers Speak (Up) on Instagram @designersspeakup + Facebook Designers Speak (Up)