Joining forces with the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre, we are delighted to invite you to the 2nd WOW – Women of the World Festival in Greece.
The festival is taking place from 6 to 8 April 2024 in Athens in co-operation with the UK-based WOW Foundation, the world’s largest event dedicated to women, girls and non-binary people.
Following the positive response to last year’s inaugural WOW Athens, which was warmly received by the public and attracted more than 3,600 visitors, this year’s festival once again aims to tackle the most pressing issues in the struggle for gender equality, both locally and internationally, as well as provide a platform for the voices and stories that inspire and raise our hopes for a more equitable world.
With a dynamic programme of panel discussions and talks by Greek and international guests, exhibitions, speed-mentoring sessions, educational programmes, concerts, workshops and much more, WOW Athens is an ambitious event aiming to empower women and feminities in tackling the barriers and inequalities they encounter daily and celebrate their successes to date, as well as the people behind them and their inspiring stories.
Diverse and interdisciplinary, the festival focuses on present-day Greek reality, while also looking at shared concerns and challenges from across the globe.
Delegation Programme WOW Global
WOW takes place across the world – in 45 locations so far, on six continents, from Rio to Bangladesh, New York to Australia. Just like in Athens, each festival is organised locally, addressing local issues, celebrating local women, but always looking outwards to the world too.
We are hosting our WOW Global Delegation to learn about WOW Festivals across the world:
- Khadija Bano Ahmed, Educator and Activist – WOW Pakistan
- Akanchha Karki, Theatre Artist, Director, Film Director – WOW Nepal
- Renata Peppl, Research Programme Manager, Queen Mary University of London – WOW Rio de Janeiro
Chaired by the WOW Foundation’s Festival and Programme Director Domino Pateman, based in the UK.
Programme highlights
WOW Sounds | Concert by Hania Rani (Monday 8 April, 21.00, Stavros Niarchos Hall): The award-winning, multi-talented Polish pianist, composer and performer Hania Rani – who has fascinated audiences and critics with her music since her first album was released in 2019 – is coming to the Stavros Niarchos Hall for a concert that bridges pop with classical music and psychedelia with minimalism.
Prima Facie by Suzie Miller (Stage reading of selected scenes, Sunday 7 April, 21.00, Lighthouse): This stunning dramatic monologue by Suzie Miller, multi-award-winning international playwright and screenwriter with a background in human rights law, premiered in Australia in 2019 at the Griffin Theatre in Sydney. A new production of Prima Facie in London’s West End in 2022 starring Emmy and BAFTA winner Jodie Comer and directed by Justin Martin, won the Olivier Award for Best New Play and Best Actress. It then transferred to Broadway, breaking box office records and winning the Tony Award for Best Actress. The play follows the story of a young lawyer, Tessa, a working-class woman who has managed to work her way up to become a leading defence attorney. Feisty – her passion is to win cases – she works hard, cross-examines thoroughly and lights up the shadows of doubt in any case until an unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, the burden of proof and morals diverge. As part of WOW Athens 2024 and supported by the Australian Embassy in Greece, Prima Facie will be directed by Io Voulgaraki.
In Conversation | Katy Hessel: Katy Hessel is an art historian, author, curator and broadcaster. Through her The Great Women Artists podcast and Instagram account, which shines a light on women artists past and present, Hessel has become one of the most exciting voices in the art world today. Her debut book The Story of Art Without Men is a New York Times and international best-seller.
WOW Screenings | Angela Davis: A World of Greater Freedom (Saturday 6 April, 19.30, Lighthouse): Manthia Diawara’s essay film Angela Davis: A World of Greater Freedom reflects on the life and work of the North American activist Angela Davis. The film is neither a biography nor a fictional narrative. Α Greek national premiere.
WOW Screenings | Gloria: In Her Own Words (Sunday 7 April, 20.00, Book Castle): A trailblazer in the feminist movement, Gloria Steinem left her indelible mark as a journalist and activist. This film by Peter W. Kunhardt, which blends archival footage and interviews with Steinem, paints a vivid portrait of her life as an undercover reporter, founder of Ms. magazine and the driving force behind the modern movement for women’s liberation, as described by Steinem herself.
Panel discussions: During the festival, key issues will be highlighted in a series of panel discussions featuring prominent women speakers from Greece and abroad. Indicatively, the following topics will be addressed:
- Sexist discourse and internalised misogyny
- Women in art and science
- Urban design from a gender perspective
- The role of the female in the Greek family from generation to generation
- Domestic violence
- The ‘rough’ road to motherhood
- Sex education of children and adolescents
- Educating young people on gender issues
- Gender dysphoria in children and the process of gender transition
- Unrealistic beauty standards in the media and on social media and their consequences
- Strengthening girls’ resilience
- Women’s labour rights
- Ageism at work
- Female leadership
- The male perspective in the struggle for gender equality
- Leading change for Gender Equality, a discussion powered by our Stronger Together Youth Leadership programme
The Hope Brigade: Photography exhibition at metro stations and on trains in collaboration with Athens Urban Rail Transport (STASY). The Hope Brigade is a photography series profiling incredible women from ten countries working at the forefront of their fields in ten essential areas from conflict to climate justice.
WOW Speed Mentoring sessions: Women and non-binary people of various social backgrounds and ages, and at different stages in their careers, meet to inspire and support each other. Mentors come from all professional backgrounds and this is a great opportunity to use their expertise to help other women overcome their challenges.
WOW Marketplace: Located at the heart of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC), in the Agora, the Marketplace showcases businesses, charities and activist organisations that have been founded and are run by women or non-binary people, who will be selling their products and/or providing information on important issues. Admission is free.
Schools at WOW Athens: Monday 8 April, the last day of the festival, will be dedicated to school students with an event focusing on consent. The SNFCC invites 5th and 6th grade teachers, as well as secondary school teachers, from all over Greece to inspire their students to create projects – guided by art and science – focusing on the concept of consent as their central theme. Aided by their teachers, students will be asked to envision a world that rejects gender-based violence and gender stereotypes, a world where inclusion and advocacy of reproductive and sexual rights becomes a reality for all. The aforementioned project outcomes will be presented at the Stavros Niarchos Hall on 8 April with the aim of developing critical thinking on issues related to consent and to respecting the boundaries of others.
About WOW – Women of the World
The WOW Foundation exists to build, convene and sustain a global movement that believes a gender equal world is desirable, possible and urgently required.
WOW – Women of the World was founded by Jude Kelly in 2010, when the first WOW Festival took place at the Southbank Centre in London. Since then, WOW has staged more than 100 festivals and events, reaching more than five million people in 30 locations across six continents.