Projects
Amazone develops and implements projects to combat gender inequality, in partnership with other players. These projects all aim to support and highlight the topics, struggles and players involved in equality.
To do this, Amazone submits grant applications in response to calls for projects in order to raise the necessary funds.
As part of this, we have organised a feminist festival with local associations to raise awareness of this work among the general public and other players in civil society. One of the aims of this event is also to reach out to the multitude of feminist initiatives that are developing outside the traditional activist arena.
2024
Walls to remember
Following a grant call from the Institute for Gender Equality, Amazone launched a street-art project. The goal? To bring more women onto the streets in three Belgian cities through art.
In November 2023, the first work of art was inaugurated in Ghent. Artist Alice Martha painted ten portraits of leading feminists with roots in the Flemish city.
The other two artworks are a current work in progress and will appear in Namur and Brussels in the spring of 2024.
2023
Festival ‘The Feminist Days’ – Second edition
The second edition of our feminist festival was organised on 14, 15 and 16 September 2023. This year’s theme was ” Ecofeminism “. Numerous activities were organised around this theme.
Thursday saw the opening night with concerts, tarot readings and a cosy bar. Friday and Saturday were filled with fun workshops, information sessions, film screenings and workshops. The festival was a great success!
The third edition will take place in 2024, with the theme ” housing “. See you then!
Art’Mazone prize Anniek Snoeijs
On 2 February 2023, we organised an exhibition and preview of the photographic work of Anniek Snoeijs, winner of the Art’Mazone prize 2022. The Art’Mazone prize is an award financed by the “Friends of Amazone” fund, which is managed by the King Baudouin Foundation. The 2022 Art’Mazone prize was dedicated to students from universities of applied sciences offering a professional bachelor’s degree in photography who have tackled a theme related to gender or feminism. In 2022, artist Anniek Snoeijs won the Art’Mazone prize. Her BLOOM project looks at the process of healing from the trauma of sexual violence. To celebrate the event, Amazone organised an exhibition of her work, including a reception. Her work was exhibited at Amazone for 4 months.
Wikipedia
In 2023, Amazone organised the ‘Wikimedian in resisdence’ project in collaboration with Wikimedia Belgium. To do this, Amazone submits grant applications in response to calls for projects in order to raise the necessary funds. Today, Wikipedia is one of the world’s largest sources of information. The free online platform is one of the seven most visited websites in the world, with more than 5 billion visitors per month in 2022. Although Wikipedia’s principle is that anyone can freely edit the encyclopaedia, studies show that the majority of Wikipedia contributors are still men. That’s why Amazon is working with Wikimedia Belgium (the organisation that coordinates Wikipedia in Belgium) to bridge this “gender gap”. In March, two workshops were held at Amazone on “Wikidata”, one of Wikipedia’s support platforms. This was followed by two editorial sessions, on 10 and 17 May, during which Amazon worked with various organisations and individuals to create articles for Wikipedia.
2022
Festival ‘The Feminist Days’ – first edition
2021
In January 2021 and August 2021, the French version of the Zorrola website received a final check by the French-speaking member of staff at the Amazon Documentation Centre. The platform, which was launched in 2020, is part of the centre of expertise for gender and human dignity in advertising and communication. The French and Dutch versions can now be consulted at https://zorrola.be
Female Symbols and Urban Space
Public (urban) space belongs to women as much as to men. But do women feel welcome there too? In 2020, the Amazone Documentation Centre carried out an exceptional three-part project on this theme with the support of equal.brussels.
The result: an unprecedented partnership with the artistic and academic world that has brought the theme of “(gender) diversity in the public space” to life in greater depth. The project included a bibliography, a study day (17/09) and an exhibition (17/09 to 31/01/2021).
The project was carried out in difficult circumstances. Covid-19 meant that the person in charge had to give shape to the project in isolation. But thanks to digital technology, we discovered new perspectives.
For the first time, Amazone used live streaming of the event via Youtube and Facebook, as well as video recording. This allowed the study afternoon to be followed online in real time. The use of QR codes to scan the project results, the online exhibition catalogue and bibliographies was also a first. These new working methods are preparing us for the post-Covid-19 era!
The project has also enabled us to review the accessibility of the Amazone House and, thanks to the support of equal.brussels, to adapt it to all visitors regardless of their specific mobility needs. A ramp at the entrance provides easy access, the picnic table in the garden can accommodate two (electric) wheelchairs and the website now contains more information about the location and accessibility.
