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Press Release
PRESS RELEASE – Wednesday 2nd February 2022
WOW FESTIVAL LONDON 2022
FRIDAY 11 - SUNDAY 13 MARCH
FURTHER LINE UP ANNOUNCED FOR WOW LONDON 2022: ANGELA DAVIS, BERNARDINE EVARISTO, BRIDGET CHRISTIE,NATALIE HAYNES, GRACE VICTORY AND CANDICE BRATHWAITE
WORLD RENOWNED SCHOLAR ANGELA Y. DAVIS LIVE FROM SAN FRANCISCO IN A ONE-OFF, SPECIAL EVENT FEATURING LIVE MUSIC, INTERVIEW AND A Q&A TO CELEBRATE THE RE-PUBLICATION OF HER BLAZING AUTOBIOGRAPHY 50 YEARS ON
BERNARDINE EVARISTO AND SPECIAL GUESTS JOURNEY THROUGH TIME REDISCOVERING BLACK BRITISH WRITING
BRIDGET CHRISTIE BRINGS HER BRAND NEW STAND-UP SHOW - WHO AM I?
COMEDIAN AND AUTHOR NATALIE HAYNES REFRAMES THE STORIES OF THE WOMEN FROM GREEK MYTH IN A RIOTOUSLY ENTERTAINING WAY
GRACE VICTORY AND CANDICE BRATHWAITE CONFRONT MOTHERHOOD, MENTAL HEALTH AND MATERNAL MORTALITY RATES FOR BLACK WOMEN IN A POWERFUL DIALOGUE
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED SPEAKERS: PATRISSE CULLORS, ELIZABETH DAY, DEBORAH FRANCES-WHITE, MARIAN KEYES, SUHAIYMAH MANZOOR-KHAN, WARSAN SHIRE, LISA TADDEO AND PANDORA SYKES ANDTHE URGENT CONVERSATION LED BY JUDE KELLY AND MORE
PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME INCLUDES LUCY KIRKWOOD’S MASTERPIECE MARYLAND DIRECTED BY VICKY FEATHERSTONE, MILLI BHATIA AND LUCY MORRISON, AND FIGS IN WIGS’ CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED LITTLE WIMMIN
WOW SOUNDS - A DEDICATED MUSIC PROGRAMME PLATFORMING REVOLUTIONARY WOMEN AND NON-BINARY MUSICIANS - RETURNS WITH MISS BABY SOL, NADIA JAVED, BREAKUP HAIRCUT AND VOICE OF BACEPROT
UNDER 10’s FEMINIST CORNER AND WOW MARKETPLACE
WOW - WOMEN OF THE WORLD’S 2022 LONDON FESTIVAL RUNS 11-13 MARCH AT THE SOUTHBANK CENTRE WITH TICKETS ON SALE NOW
WOW - Women of the World has announced headliners for its 2022 London Festival, which returns to the Southbank Centre from 11-13 March, supported by Bloomberg, to mark International Women’s Day. Led by Founder Jude Kelly, the London edition of the world’s biggest, most comprehensive festival celebrating women, girls and non-binary people is back in person after some of the toughest years in recent history for gender equality.
On 13 March world renowned scholar Professor Angela Y. Davis joins the Festival live from San Francisco in a one-off, special event to celebrate the much anticipated re-publication of her blazing autobiography - An Autobiography - nearly 50 years since it was first published. In an evening with black feminist writer and researcher, Lola Olufemi featuring music, poetry, and a live audience Q&A, Angela will reflect on the power of sisterhood and political self-organising, and what a lifetime of resistance has taught her about the struggles we face today. Performers for Angela Davis - A Lifetime of Resistance are to be announced.
Booker Prize-Winning author Bernardine Evaristo and special guests - including Hannah Azieb Pool, Barbara Blake, Judith Bryan, Jacqueline Roy and Nicola Williams - journey through time rediscovering lost and hard-to-find works about Black Britain and the diaspora, by Black women writers on 13 March. Through conversation and readings from Evaristo and guests - including some of the authors themselves – the event explores the stories these extraordinary books tell. Since 2019, Evaristo has been curating the Black Britain: Writing Back series for Penguin, adding new titles every year.
Edinburgh Comedy Award, Rose D'or and South Bank Sky Arts Award winner Bridget Christie brings her brand new show Who Am I? to WOW. Her laugh a minute show about the menopause will run on Saturday 12 March.
Comedian and author Natalie Haynes will celebrate the remarkable women at the centre of ancient Greek myth on 13 March. Among the world's most important historical building blocks, deeply embedded into our culture and stories, these are the myths that permeate much of modern life. Historically in our retellings, women have been painted as sex objects, vengeful, or just evil. Haynes’ revisionist exploration reclaims many of these stories - from the chaos unleashing Pandora who was not a villain to the Greeks, supposedly warmongering Helen, through to the nuanced stories of Medea and Phaedra. Natalie Haynes is the author of six books. Most recently Pandora’s Jar: Women and the Greek Myths (2020) and A Thousand Ships, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2020. She has written and recorded six series of Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics for BBC Radio 4.
On 11 March award-winning digital-first creator Grace Victory (How to Calm It) and Sunday Times Bestselling Author and founder of Make Motherhood Diverse Candice Brathwaite (I Am Not Your Baby Mother and Sista Sister) share how they grew their careers to encompass writing, fashion, presenting, and inspiring others in their journeys to motherhood. They talk to Founder of Black Ballad Tobi Oredein and will also touch on causes close to their hearts such as mental health and maternal mortality rates for Black women in Britain, and Grace’s own experiences of building a relationship with her baby son as she recovered from life-threatening Covid complications.
Tickets to the newly announced events will go on sale on 10 and 11 February.
The 2022 London Festival also sees the return of WOW Sounds. WOW’s first ever dedicated music programme platforming revolutionary women and non-binary musicians and spoken word artists who are using music as a form of activism - from violence against women to climate justice to body positivity to the refugee crisis.
WOW welcomes UK-based artist Miss Baby Sol WOW’s first-ever WOW Sounds Artist in Residence) to perform an exclusive gig with her full live band in the Clore Ballroom on 11 March. Bringing positive energy, empowering messages and an eclectic music style, Baby will be appearing throughout the WOW Festival weekend. This free Friday night gig is a chance to hear her perform critically acclaimed tracks alongside new songs written specially for WOW, inspired by the themes of the festival. Her WOW Sounds residency is supported by PRS For Music Foundation.
On 13 March there will be a special free gig featuring an exclusive line up of WOW Sounds acts including Nadia Javed and Breakup Haircut, hosted by Miss Baby Sol.
Indonesian Muslim all-girl rock band Voice of Baceprot (VOB) will be WOW's first-ever digital artist in residence. The band formed in 2014 when they started using music to raise awareness of the lack of education for girls in their communities. As part of their digital residency, supported by the British Council, the acclaimed band will create new work and music videos about gender equality to perform at the festival online.
The guests announced today join previously announced unmissable events with Black Lives Matter co-founder and former Executive Director, and TIME 100 most influential person Patrisse Cullors; an afternoon with author and broadcaster Elizabeth Day of the podcast phenomenon How to Fail; bestselling writers Lisa Taddeo and Pandora Sykes in conversation about what happens when we are pushed to the brink; the internationally bestselling author Marian Keyes in discussion about Again, Rachel, her eagerly awaited sequal to Rachel’s Holiday; award-winning Somali British poet and activist and celebrated collaborator on Beyoncé’s Lemonade and Black Is KingWarsan Shire, who will launch her long-awaited first full-length poetry collection Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head; The Guilty Feminist host Deborah Frances-White with some of her most personal ever “I’m a feminist but…” confessions; writer, poet and activist, Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan launching her new book, Tangled in Terror: Uprooting Islamophobia; The Urgent Conversation, a panel on the most pressing gender equality issues - with the timely programme and panel to be confirmed just ahead of the weekend; Lucy Kirkwood’s searing, timely play Maryland, and a riotous festival finisher from Figs in Wigs - Little Wimmin - a brilliantly satirical adaptation of the Louisa May Alcott classic.
WOW London 2022 will see the return of many other WOW favourites including the free-to-explore WOW Marketplace and the sold-out Under 10’s Feminist Corners, which invite children to explore equality and discover what life is like for their peers across the world.
The festival’s day programme, final events and a digital programme accessible worldwide will be announced in the coming weeks.
Run by UK charity The WOW Foundation, 2022 is the 12th WOW London Festival. In 2018, WOW Founder Jude Kelly built on the success of the festival to create UK-based charity The WOW Foundation to run the global WOW movement that believes a gender equal world is urgently needed, possible and desirable. Since the inaugural London Festival in 2011, WOW and its partners across the world have reached more than three million people in more than 100 festivals and events across six continents. You can get inspired by listening here to the second series of the WOW Podcast, which celebrates the achievements of women and girls and takes a frank look at the obstacles in their way. Other recent events include November’s first-ever WOW Festival in Taiwan, WOW Kaohsiung, and Shameless! Festival of Actvism Against Sexual Violence in London, a co-produced festival by WOW and Birckbeck University of London’s SHaME project to address the global crisis of sexual violence.
Details of more 2022 WOW Festivals across the world, including the return of WOW Virtual Pakistan in March and the first-ever WOW Rotherham, will be announced shortly.
The WOW Foundation is proudly supported by its Global Founding Partner Bloomberg, and Global Partner Mastercard. WOW London 2022 is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
ENDS
IMAGES
Images are available here.
LISTINGS
11 – 13 March, Southbank Centre
Under 10’s Feminist Corners (SOLD OUT)
Sat 10.30am for girls aged 6-7 years old
Sat 1.30pm for girls aged 8-10 years old
Sat 4.30pm for boys aged 8-10 years old
WOW Speed Mentoring
Friday 11 March
12.30pm-1.30pm, free but ticketed
Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall (BSL)
Friday 12 March
2pm-5pm, £18 / £25
Royal Festival Hall (BSL & Captions)
Lisa Taddeo & Pandora Sykes in Conversation
Friday 11 March
6.30pm, £25
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Patrisse Cullors: An Abolitionist Journey
Friday 11 March
7pm-8pm, £10, £18, £28, £38
Royal Festival Hall (BSL & Captions)
Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan: Tangled In Terror
Friday 11 March
8.30pm-10pm, £10
Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall (BSL)
WOW Sounds Presents Miss Baby Sol
Friday 11 March
8.30pm-9.30pm, Free
Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall
Grace Victory & Candice Brathwaite at WOW
Friday 11 March
9pm-10.30pm, £10 / £20
Queen Elizabeth Hall (BSL)
Saturday 13 March
2pm-5pm, £18 / £25
Royal Festival Hall (BSL & Captions)
Marian Keyes at WOW: Again, Rachel
Saturday 12 March
6pm-7.30pm, £25
Queen Elizabeth Hall (BSL & Captions)
The Urgent Conversation
Saturday 12 March
6.15pm-7.45pm, £10
Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall (BSL)
Bridget Christie at WOW: Who Am I?
Saturday 12 March
7.30pm-9.30pm, £10, £18, £28, £38
Royal Festival Hall
Warsan Shire at WOW: Bless the Daughter
Saturday 12 March
8.30pm-10pm, £25
Queen Elizabeth Hall (BSL)
Deborah Frances-White Stands Up at WOW
Saturday 12 March
9pm-10.30pm, £22
Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall (BSL)
Sunday 13 March
11am-2pm, £12 / £20
Royal Festival Hall
Sunday 13 March
2pm-3.30pm, £15
Queen Elizabeth Hall
WOW Sounds Hour
Sunday 13 March
2pm-3pm, Free
Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall
Sunday Afternoon with Elizabeth Day at WOW
Sunday 13 March
4pm-5.30pm, £18, £28, £38
Royal Festival Hall (BSL & STT)
Bernardine Evaristo - Black Britain: Writing Back
Sunday 13 March
4pm-5.30pm, £15
Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall (BSL)
Angela Davis: A Lifetime of Resistance
Sunday 13 March
7pm-8.30pm, £10, £20, £30
Queen Elizabeth Hall (BSL & Captions)
Little Wimmin
Sunday 13 March
7pm-9pm, £25
Queen Elizabeth Hall
Natalie Haynes in conversation: Women in Greek Myth
Sunday 13 March
7pm-8.30pm, £22
Purcell Room at Queen Elizabeth Hall (BSL)
NOTES TO EDITORS
About The WOW Foundation
The WOW Foundation was created by Jude Kelly CBE in 2018 to run the global movement that is WOW - Women of the World Festivals. The Festivals began in the UK in 2010, launched by Kelly at the Southbank Centre London, where she was Artistic Director, to celebrate women and girls, taking a frank look at what prevents them from achieving their potential, raising awareness globally of the issues they face, and discussing solutions together.
To date, WOW has reached over 3 million people in 30 locations on six continents, in locations including Australia, Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Somaliland, the UK and the USA. In 2018/19 WOW was in Rio de Janeiro, Cardiff, Bradford, Bangladesh, Brisbane, Janakpur (Nepal), Baltimore, London, Exeter, Norwich, Perth, Beijing, Ghana and Nigeria. In June 2020, WOW held its first ever worldwide online festival focused on women and girls — WOW Global 24. The festival travelled around the world everywhere from the UK to Nigeria, and Pakistan to Australia exploring the intersectional impact of COVID-19 on gender inequality, and responding to Black Lives Matter. In 2021, WOW’s first ever sold out Shameless! Festival of Activism Against Sexual Violence took place, co-organised with Birkbeck’s SHaME project.
Over the last 10 years the Festivals have developed a reputation as a space for world renowned artists, activists, thinkers and performers including Angela Davis, Malala Yousafzai, Annie Lennox, Patrick Stewart, Baroness Doreen Lawrence and Salma Hayek, to come and participate, alongside thousands of women and girls who don’t have public profiles but are doing amazing things. WOW provides platforms for people of all kinds, changes attitudes, brings communities together and provides a unique space for people to work together towards gender equality in their own communities. One example of the impact of the festival came in 2015, with the founding of the Women’s Equality Party by Sandi Toksvig and Catherine Mayer.
In 2018 Kelly left the Southbank Centre to run The WOW Foundation full time as a charity working to build, convene and sustain a global movement that believes a gender equal world is possible and desirable through festivals and empowering women and girls. The unique festival model creates numerous pathways for participants to take part in WOW projects, amplify their own causes, or start new initiatives which have a wide impact on communities. It is the biggest, most comprehensive and most significant festival dedicated to presenting work by women and promoting equality for women and girls.
WOW festivals and events are presented by arrangement with the Southbank Centre.
The President of WOW - Women of the World is HRH The Duchess of Cornwall.
About Bloomberg
Bloomberg – the global business, financial information and news leader – is a founding supporter of WOW - Women of the World Festivals. Bloomberg has long supported organisations and causes that advance gender equality and seek to address challenges women face around the world, from maternal and reproductive health to women’s economic empowerment and inspiring the new generation of female leaders. Bloomberg has proudly supported WOW Festivals since 2012 www.bloomberg.com/women
About the Southbank Centre
The Southbank Centre is the UK’s largest arts centre occupying a prominent riverside location that sits in the midst of London’s most vibrant cultural quarter on the South Bank of the Thames. We exist to present great cultural experiences that bring people together and we achieve this by providing the space for artists to create and present their best work and by creating a place where as many people as possible can come together to experience bold, unusual and eye-opening work. We want to take people out of the everyday, every day. The site has an extraordinary creative and architectural history stretching back to the 1951 Festival of Britain. The Southbank Centre is made up of the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room and Hayward Gallery as well as being home to the National Poetry Library and the Arts Council Collection. It is also home to four Resident Orchestras (London Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, London Sinfonietta and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment) and four Associate Orchestras (Aurora Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, Chineke! Orchestra and National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain).