Women on the Move

Berlin’s f³ – freiraum für fotografie exhibition space presents the showcase ‘Women on the Move – Eastern Europe between Tradition and Action’, open from September 9 to November 6, 2022.

From the FEMEN movement in Ukraine to Russia’s Pussy Riot, from the 2020 women’s marches in Belarus to the protests against Poland’s restrictive abortion laws: something is happening in Eastern Europe. Women are making their voices heard with political protests and high-profile activist campaigns – emphasising their role as political protagonists, and breaking with the traditional clichés of women as workers, mothers or sex objects.

Eastern European women have experienced a very specific social history. For more than forty years, communism fostered gender equality in terms of education and employment – however, women still bore the added, main responsibility for child rearing and domestic chores. Today, strictly defined gender roles seem incompatible with the self-image of a new generation. Stereotypes are being dismantled, or at least shaken up. How do these women see themselves, and how do we perceive them?

In ‘Women on the Move’, nine female photographers take a differentiated look at the current situation and the historical legacy of women in Eastern Europe. The exhibition, which was curated by Miriam Zlobinski, features works by Maria Kapajeva, Natalia Kepesz, Justyna Mielnikiewicz, Oksana Parafeniuk, Alicja Rogalska & Kartal, Violetta Savchits, Elena Subach, Agata Szymanska-Medina, and Tatsiana Tkachova.

For further details visit freiraum für fotografie