Salt Spring Island celebrates International Women’s Day (IWD). This year’s IWD theme is Inspire Inclusion. Leading up to IWD on Friday, March 8th, here are some opportunities to learn about how we can forge women’s equality. Collectively we can all inspire inclusion.
Like every year, women are well represented at The Salt Spring Film Festival (March 1-3 at the Gulf Islands Secondary School). There’s no shortage of films about women, plus more than 50 percent of the films are directed or co-directed by women and twelve of the twenty film guests are female. Opening night stars Aitamaako’Tamisskapi Natosi Before The Sun. An intimate and thrilling profile of Logan Red Crow, a young Siksika woman in the golden plains of Blackfoot Territory, as she prepares for one of the most dangerous horse races in the world: the Indian Relay.
On March 7th, The Salt Spring Island Public Library hosts, in collaboration with the Canadian Federation of University Women, the screening of “The Magnitude of All Things”. “The Magnitude of All Things” is a cinematic exploration of the emotional and psychological dimensions of climate change, directed by former Salt Spring Island resident Jennifer Abbott. Before she became a filmmaker, Abbott studied political science with a particular interest in radical political thought, women’s studies and deep ecology at McGill University.
Also at the library, you can find a special display of books for IWD. Sophia vom Bauer Jackson, adult services manager at the library, has curated an extensive list of newer female-focused books. Her favourites: Eve – How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Evolution, by Cat Bohannon (non-fiction). This is a sweeping revision of human history and an urgent and necessary corrective for a world that has focused primarily on the male body for far too long. Another favourite is Barnhill, Kelly Regan (2022): When Women Were Dragons, by Kelly Regan Barnhill (fiction). This is a fiery feminist tale, exploding notions of a woman’s place in the world, expanding minds about accepting others for who they really are. You can find a list of Sophia’s favourite female-focused books here.
To wrap up the collection of IWD offerings on the island, Artspring is presenting a special performance on March 8th in recognition of International Women’s Day: The Ostara Project, an all-women award-winning jazz ensemble. An estimated five percent of jazz instrumentalists are women. In February 2022, Canadian bassist Jodi Proznick (JUNO nomination 2007, 2018) and pianist Amanda Tosoff (JUNO nomination 2022) decided to challenge the almost-exclusive male narrative by bringing together seven outstanding Canadian female jazz musicians, each one a composer and bandleader in her own right. Get your tickets here: www.tickets.artspring.ca
Happy International Women’s Day! On this day, let’s remember to support the accomplishments of women in all aspects of our lives.