FEMeeting Plenary Event
June 23rd, 4:30 pm—6:30 pm EST
Capitol Theatre 121 University Ave W, Windsor, ON
On June 23rd, the Capitol Theatre in Windsor, Ontario, hosted the FEMeeting Plenary Event, marking the first event of the FEMeeting: Women in Art, Science, and Technology Windsor 2024 Conference. This conference aims to highlight the intersection of art, science, and technology through the contributions of women in these fields.
The event featured three Canadian luminaries working at the intersection of art, science, and technology. Nina Czegledy, an internationally acclaimed artist and curator in the art/sci/tech community, captivated the audience with her reflections on the evolving role of women in art, science, and education. Dr. Catherine Febria, Canada Research Chair in Freshwater Ecology at the University of Windsor, presented her Healthy Headwaters Lab research demonstrating important connections between environmental science and the arts. Dr. Zainub Verjee, C.M. Executive Director of Galleries Ontario, inspired attendees with her advocacy for greater representation and visibility of diverse women in the arts through years of creative activity, leadership, and mentorship.
Dr. Zainub Verjee's keynote, drawing inspiration from second-wave feminism, presented an historical overview of women's contributions to art, science, and technology. It highlighted individual achievements, explored the policy ideas that facilitated women's progress, and examined the challenges of embedding women's perspectives within established institutions such as for example at Women In Focus, Western Front and Banff New Media Centre. It explored a range of thematics: Women and Cinema, DATA Ai and Gender, Gaming and Gender and projects undertaken by women globally in three disparate fields — Canopy Research, Not-for-profit Pharmaceutical and Water were showcased, with the aim of advancing art-science research methodologies and fostering collaborative strategies for knowledge sharing and community building.
Host Partners:
Dr. Jennifer Willet, INCUBATOR Art Lab, SoCA, UWindsor
Mireille Bourgeois, IOTA Institute, Halifax, NS
Marta de Menezes, Ectopia Experimental Art Laboratory, and Cultivamos Cultura Portugal
Dr. Dalila Honorato, Ionian University, Greece
Plenary Opening Remarks
Plenary Speaker: Dr. Catherine Febria
Plenary Speaker: Nina Czegledy
Plenary Speaker: Dr. Zainub Verjee
Speakers
Nina Czegledy
Nina Czegledy, artist, independent curator, researcher, educator, works internationally on collaborative art, science and technology projects. Paradigm shifts in the arts, science, educational issues and contemporary technologies inform her projects.
She has exhibited and published widely, won awards for her artwork and has initiated, lead and participated in workshops, forums and festivals worldwide.
Image Credit
Nina Czegledy, https://www.fronda.mx/simbiosis, 2016.
Catherine M. Febria, PhD
she/her/siya
Dr. Febria is a Pinay/Filipina immigrant settler to Turtle Island who conceptualized and launched the Healthy Headwaters Lab at the University of Windsor in 2019. Driven by the mission to restore freshwater ecosystems to full health for the benefit of future generations, she has brought together individuals with diverse gifts to work together in pursuit of research excellence, benefits to local to global communities, all in a holistic, women-led and partnership-focused way. The work of her team focuses on relationships with freshwater through biodiversity and water quality science-based approaches, with the inclusion of storytellers and artists to help communicate and mobilize a message that it is the responsibility of all people to care for and heal freshwater ecosystems. Her research has generated more than $7.5M in research-based funding in support of place-based local to global research on freshwater restoration and the training and empowerment of future generations.
www.healthyheadwaterslab.ca/catherine-febria
Image Credit
Image credit: University of Windsor
Dr. Zainub Verjee, C.M.
Dr. Zainub Verjee is an artist, scholar, writer, arts administrator and cultural diplomat. Informed by Third World decolonization, the international contestations on the political economy of art and evolving technological driven global order, Zainub’s work is integral to the understanding of relationship between Art, technology, gender and culture. Currently, she is Executive Director of Galeries Ontario/Ontario Galleries in Toronto.
More on Zainub Verjee: https://galeries-ontario-galleries.ca/about/who-we-are//
Image Credit
Zainub Verjee, https://www.zainubverjee.com/, 2022.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to our funders and supporters: University of Windsor, School of Creative Arts, SMArt Communications, Humanities Research Group, and the Capitol Theatre.
Video and Image Credits
Justin Elliott, Jel Media
