The Museum of Contemporary Art Australia’s (MCA) C3West initiative brings together artists, businesses, government partners and arts organisations to create projects that give voice to community issues, focusing on Western Sydney.
Curated by MCA Senior Curator, C3West, Pedro de Almeida, this year’s program, ‘Skirts’, examines issues around women’s safety in the suburb of Kingswood. Working with Western Sydney-based artist Linda Brescia whose multi-disciplinary practice investigates the banalities and complexities of everyday life experiences and rituals, ‘Skirts’ brings women from Kingswood and surrounding suburbs together to demonstrate the power of collective voices; where seeds of positive change can emerge, standing up against gendered expectations, ageism, violence against women, and the barriers that can come between individual lives and community wellbeing.
Artist Linda Brescia (third from right) and writer Felicity Castagna (second from left) with project participants from Kingswood, NSW, 2020. Photograph: Anna Kučera. Courtesy Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney
A collaboration with Penrith City Council, ‘Skirts’ seeks to address concerns around public amenities, community safety and connection with a focus on women’s needs and wants. Since September 2020, Brescia has engaged with a diverse group of women every week, facilitating several workshops and creating a safe space for creativity and dialogue.
Working with writer Felicity Castagna alongside Brescia, the Skirts have devised a manifesto – a public declaration combining poetic, personal observations of women’s daily experiences and desires with a list of actions. Artworks and activations for ‘Skirts’ will take place at Wainwright Park, 19 Bringelly Road, Kingswood, NSW from Sunday 30 May through to September 2021.
‘Skirts aren’t for sissies. Let’s skirt the shirtfronters. Make a beeline to the a-line.’ – Linda Brescia
