See the fabulous IWD #BreakTheBias street art mural from Zimbabwe

 March 22, 2022

Across the world, creativity remains a key way to elevate awareness raising efforts.

International Women's Day sees many creatives step forward to use their talents to help forge positive messaging across their communities. Street art provides an exciting and effective medium for delivering powerful messages and of course colorful murals often see incredible traction on social media.

Street art can be controversial, and it can also be a medium for voices of social change, protest, or expressions of community desire. International Women's Day street art provides a positive force in communities.

Zimbabwe International Women's Day #BreakTheBias street art

Communities collaborate on impactful #BreakTheBias street art murals - and this one from Zimbabwe sees great engagement from its members of the local community.

Joint collaboration and ownership of the messaging is key. 

National Gallery of Zimbabwe #BreakTheBias exhibition

The National Gallery of Zimbabwe hosted a #BreakTheBias exhibition in Harare with 48 works of art displayed through March and April 2022. The exhibition celebrates the achievements of women and women artists in Zimbabwe.

The exhibition shows that women have agency and more to their contribution to communities - and was proudly supported by The Irish Embassy of Pretoria.

The exhibition conceptualised and organised by Mashonaland Irish Society president Ann Flanagan Tsapayi and NGZ deputy director and curator Fadzai Muchemwa, was officially opened by the Ambassador of Ireland to Zimbabwe, Fionnuala Gilsenan.

The National Gallery of Zimbabwe is an international showplace for Zimbabwean visual arts, officially opened in 1957. The National Gallery of Zimbabwe’s core business is to preserve, conserve, research, and publish the artworks collections for the education of present and future generations of Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe still has much work for achieving gender equality 

Like many African societies, Zimbabwean society is strongly patriarchal. The relationship between men and women is one of male domination and female subordination (Kambarami 2016), which in general deprives women of the power to influence processes and functions in society. 

In Zimbabwe, as of February 2021, 31.9% of seats in parliament were held by women. In 2015, 84.8% of women of reproductive age (15-49 years) had their need for family planning satisfied with modern methods.

However, work still needs to be done in Zimbabwe to achieve gender equality. 

#BreakTheBias theme continues all year

Women's equality awareness raising activity doesn't start and end on International Women's Day but of course, but continues all year long.

Have you spotted some impactful #BreakTheBias street art?

Share it with us!