Together Anouska Beckwith and Lulu Barsotti, childhood best friends, have always shared an admiration and respect for strong women who live by and stand for their beliefs: Frida Kahlo, Patti Smith, Elizabeth 1st, Diane Fossey, Waris Dirie, Vivienne Westwood, Eleanor Roosevelt to name a few. Born from their shared philosophy of “if not you, who?”, these two pioneers focused their energy on affecting positive change for women in the arts through the creation of the growing collective, World Wide Women. Both believe very strongly that we have entered into an era where the balance between mankind and earth must be restored. For 2000 years our collective cultural story has been shaped by patriarchal supremacy resulting in the diminished influence of feminine energy in the shaping of our social norms and constructs. World Wide Women foundations have been built on Anouska and Lulu’s desire to empower women in the arts and spread a positive message of harmony and the restoration of natural balance (between human beings and our ecosystem). Their collective exhibitions are imbued with unique sense of shared energy, a palpable energy that stems from the strong bonds formed between the WWW artist and their shared vision. World Wide Women sums up the atmosphere and feeling of their exhibitions as being one that “engages all of the viewers’ senses. We are looking to provoke a reaction, a feeling, to engage our visitors with themselves and the world around them. And in our view the best way to do this is through engagement of the senses.”
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These are a selection of photographs taken by members of World Wide Women. Those taken by Amanda Charchian come from the group’s project entitled RITUAL that will be exhibited in London this coming November.
To see more photography by World Wide Women, be sure to acquire our upcoming October print issue or visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/worldwidewomen8 or their Tumblr page at http://worldwidewomendiary.tumblr.com/.
(Cover Image by Amanda Charchian)
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