March 8, 2023 | 6pm
On the occasion of International Women’s Day, the Italian Cultural Institute is glad to invite you to “Donne & Arte Oggi: Women and Contemporary Art in Italy and beyond”.
The seminar is organized in collaboration with Vital Voices and focuses on the relationship between contemporary women artists and female empowerment.
The seminar is held at the Vital Voices Headquarters at 6 pm on March 8th and will be opened by Ms. Markette Sheppard, Senior Director of Communications at Vital Voices, followed by presentations by Dr. Cecilia Canziani, Dr. Ilaria Conti and Dr. Susan Sterling.
Dr. Cecilia Canziani, curator of the exhibition “Io dico io” which was displayed in the Spring of 2021 at the la Galleria Nazionale di Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art) in Rome, will briefly illustrate the history of contemporary Italian female artists.
Dr. Ilaria Conti will present an exhibition project created for the Italian Cultural Institute centered on young contemporary female artists and addressing social commitment in their works, with a particular focus on the overlap (or “intersection”) of their different social identities as well as theri experiences with discrimination, oppression, and domination.
In conclusion, Dr. Susan Sterling, curator of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), will illustrate and discuss the challenges and opportunities provided by the mission of a museum entirely dedicated to female artists, contributing quite a unique perspective as the NMWA constitutes the only example of such an institution in the world.
LOCATION
Vital Voices Headquarters
1509 16th Street NW
Washington DC 20036
RSVP HERE
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VITAL VOICES’ COVID POLICY: Proof of vaccination is required. Face masks are required without proof of vaccination.
DR. CECILIA CANZIANI
Cecilia Canziani is an independent curator and art historian. She is Professor of Phenomenology of Contemporary Art at the Accademia di Belle Arti in L’Aquila and Adjunct Professor of the Master in Art History at the Università di Roma Tor Vergata.
Dr. Canziani has curated exhibitions and research projects in museums, institutions and galleries, including Fondazione del Monte di Bologna, MAXXI, La Galleria Nazionale in Rome, MAD Firenze, Museo Marini Marini; MACRO, Roma, Pedagogic Museum, Belgrade, and Museo de la Ciudad, Quito. Since 2018, together with artist Chiara Camoni, Dr. Canziani has been developing a series of seminars and workshops titled “La giusta misura” (The right measure). Finally, she is co-founder of the publishing project for artists’ books dedicated to children “Les Cerises” and in 2021, together with Ilaria Gianni, she founded the curatorial and research space IUNO, in Rome.
DR. ILARIA CONTI
As a New York-based curator, Ilaria Conti’s work concentrates on research-based artistic practices focused on decolonial epistemologies and the relationship between institutional infrastructures, curatorial ethics, labor, and civic agency.
Currently, Dr. Conti serves as Curator at the American Federation of Arts, advancing frameworks of decentralized and sustainable exhibition-making with a focus on contemporary art and social/cultural justice.
Previously, she served as Research Curator at the Centre Pompidou for Cosmopolis, a multiyear platform devoted to research-based artistic practices and decolonial methodologies. She was Assistant Curator of the 2016 Marrakech Biennale and Samuel H. Kress Interpretive Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, among other positions. She is an Advisor in the Visual Arts for the American Academy in Rome.
Her curatorial work has been featured in projects presented at the Centre Pompidou, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Swiss Institute/Istituto Svizzero, Madre Museum, Fondation H, and La Nueva Fábrica Guatemala, among other institutions.
MS. MARKETTE SHEPPARD
Ms. Markette Sheppard is Senior Director of Communications at Vital Voices. She is also a marketing executive, Emmy-award winning TV host and author of Ninja Nate and the bestselling children’s books.
As a TV Host, Ms. Sheppard won an Emmy award for her role as host and moderator of a morning show on the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC. She was nominated for back-to-back EMMY awards in 2018 & 2019. On the national stage, Ms. Sheppard has been featured on top-rated national morning shows as a lifestyle expert, including NBC’s TODAY Show, VH1’s Big Morning Buzz Live and ABC’s Live! with Kelly. She is also the host and creator of The Glow Girl’s Guide to Life, a 12-part social media series on Glow Steam TV.
Ms. Sheppard earned a digital marketing strategy certification from Harvard, an M.A. degree in interactive journalism from American University in Washington, DC and a B.A. in communications & French from California State University Dominguez Hills.
https://markettesheppard.com/about/
DR. SUSAN STERLING
Dr. Susan Fisher Sterling is Alice West Director of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) in Washington, D.C. and has built her career and the stature of the museum around the message of equity for women through the example of excellence in the arts. Sterling started at NMWA in 1988—a year after the museum opened—as associate curator, then was appointed curator of modern and contemporary art, followed by chief curator/deputy director. Sterling assumed the directorship of the museum in 2008. Under Sterling’s collaborative, feminist leadership, the museum has presented landmark exhibitions of work by many of today’s most influential women artists and organized numerous associated publications. Over her tenure, the museum’s collection has grown to more than 6,000 works across all mediums.
A lifelong champion of women in the arts, Sterling has received National Orders of Merit from Brazil and Norway. She has been recognized as one of the Most Powerful Women in Washington by Washingtonian magazine and is a recipient of ArtTable 30th Anniversary Honors as well as the President’s Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art. Sterling holds a B.A. in art and archaeology from Washington University in St. Louis and an M.A. and Ph.D. in art and archaeology from Princeton University.
ABOUT VITAL VOICES
Vital Voices Global Partnership invests in women who are taking on the World’s greatest challenges. Since its inception in 1997, it has directly invested in more than 20,000 change makers across 184 countries and territories.
Vital Voices Global Partnership is driven by the conviction that women are the key to progress in their communities and nations and thus it provides early support to women leaders who take on the responsibility to improve their communities, their countries, and their societies.
To advance and expand this work, in 2022 Vital Voices Global Partnership opened the doors to the world’s first global embassy for women, the Vital Voices Global Headquarters for Women’s Leadership —a first-of-its-kind space that allows for convening, innovation, planning, and action.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF WOMEN IN THE ARTS
National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) is the first museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts. NMWA is increasingly becoming an international force that spotlights women artists of all periods and nationalities. NMWA advocates for better representation of women artists and serves as a vital center for thought leadership, community engagement, and social change. The museum addresses the gender imbalance in the presentation of art by bringing to light important women artists of the past while promoting great women artists working today.
NMWA’s collection includes over 6,000 artworks, a library and research center that contains over 19,000 print, electronic and video items, archival files on 18,000 artists; and collected papers. NMWA has a significant outdoor sculpture corridor and has created innovative education programs and curricula that offer much needed cultural literacy public and private schools both locally and nationally.
It is the only major museum in the world solely dedicated to advancing women in the arts.