*** Haus der Kulturen der Welt: Forum1 Archive *** ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [Date]: Fri, 19 Nov 1999 09:36:45 +1000 [From]: "Kim Machan" [To]: "Cultural Exchange via Internet" [Subject]: Re: [forum1] Re: Marginalization of women Dear Britta I just did a quick count on the male/female ratio for the recent Asia Pacific Triennial, survey show of artists in the Asia Pacific regions www.apt3.net 49 male - 26 female Chinese artists 4 male - 1 female To speak generally, I think this is the average ratio that turns up world wide with few exceptions. Australia in fact had an "official ,unofficial policy" in the early eighties that all state funded exhibitions must have 50-50 gender ratio. This came from extremely strong political/feminist activity in the country at the time. It was not compulsory, though projects that did not seek ethnic and gender balance were marked down and disadvantaged in assessment procedures. This was greatly criticised at the time and there were many disgruntled male artists complaining that exhibitions were not based on quality but political and gender proactivism. (The APT Australian artists were 2 male, one Aboriginal, one Chinese origin and 2 women, Caucasian Australian origin - we still strive for political correctness in representation!) To be brief, the policy dwindled , but the 5 or so years that this was pressured, brought about a culture that actively pursued female artists.The policy, though rarely spoke of now, still is evident in all funding applications that requires statistics of gender, multicultural, youth categories. I can remember reading statistics that placed Australia as having the highest percentage of women represented by Australian commercial galleries in the world. This shows that if curators actively seek and present female artists there is a flow on to collectors and commercial exhibitions. best kim Kim Machan Festival Director MAAP99 Multimedia Art Asia Pacific www.maap.org.au MAAP is a not for profit organisation that promotes excellence in art and technology in the Asia Pacific regions.