Athena

2022

WHO WAS ATHENA?

Athena was an ancient Greek Goddess associated with wisdom, war and art. The Patron Goddess of heroic endeavour. An international symbol of wisdom, the arts and knowledge, she is often associated with justice. Athena knows who she is, what she wants and she isn’t afraid to stand up for what she believes in.

Drawing on research into female-centred mythology, deities, matriarchal communities, powerful women from global history as well as modern-day, real-life stories from girls and women of all ages, we’ll explore the concept of the “wild woman”. We’ll also look at how women are embedded in nature - shaped and transformed by the seasons, the moon and the earth. We want to provide space for women to share their believes, injustices and lived experiences, and encourage an open dialogue through which we can discover new meanings, connections and knowledge about gender, representation, identity and social justice.

WHO ARE THE ARTISTS?

For this project, we formed an artist co-lab. A small group of interdisciplinary artists came together to research, develop and create a highly visual live performance, incorporating new writing, devised theatre, photography, videography and 3D sculpture. We wanted to test the boundaries of live performance art, take some risks and bring together a group of creatives to build the conception of a show collaboratively.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

RedBobble are community engagement & creative wellbeing specialists with over 12 years experience of working in areas of low arts engagement across Yorkshire and the North West. For ATHENA, we engaged with local communities in areas of low arts engagement to deliver Female Empowerment Workshops and co-produce the themes and content for ATHENA 2022. We partnered with some brilliant groups, across 4 towns and cities. In Oldham we worked with Mahdlo Youth Zone Full Circle, Women’s Chai Project in Doncaster we worked with Changing Lives, Heywood Luncheon Club in Rochdale and in Leeds we worked with Hollin Lane Allotments.

This body of work laid the foundation for ATHENA 2022 and provided valuable insights for ATHENA 2024. Through co-creation and research, we discovered that older women feel marginalised, unheard, and discriminated against, leading us to focus on their experiences in ATHENA 2024. Our aim is to uplift, empower, and amplify the voices of older women, ensuring they are represented, heard, and seen in our creative endeavors and within culture. will We build on our existing strong community partnerships while also establishing new, sustainable connections.

ATHENA X PORTRAIT OF BRITAIN

“This was part of a multi-art form collaborative project celebrating womanhood, empowerment and woman’s connection to nature. I turned to dance to tell this story and in among the movement, photographed dancer Leonna Lynch rooted in the landscape.” - Rachael Munro-Fawcett

Rachael Munro-Fawcett’s stunning image of Leonna Lynch, as part of ATHENA, was selected as one of 100 winning Portrait of Britain images in January 2024.

British Journal of Photography and JCDecaux UK announced the winning images of Portrait of Britain Vol. 6 - a journey through the diverse faces and stories that define modern Britain. The 200 shortlisted images are also featured in the Portrait of Britain Vol. 6 photobook.

ATHENA was funded by Arts Council England.

THANK YOU

A huge thank you to Arts Council England for supporting this project and a huge thank you to all artists, participants, partner organisation staff and volunteers, we couldn’t have done it without you. We’re also grateful for the continual support we had from Oldham Coliseum and Touchstones Museum Rochdale. 

We’re always on the look out for support, such as corporate sponsorship to support the continual overhead costs of running RedBobble Arts. If you’re interested we’d love to hear from you.