Marie Claire Australia September 2017

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British artist Lucy
Sparrow creates realistic
installations out of
felt. Her latest work
8 ’Till Late is a mock
convenience store in
New York City, complete
with life-sized Doritos
and Spam. Her previous
work includes a felt sex
shop called Madame
Roxy’s Erotic Emporium.

The Clams are making a splash about the tampon tax

Anyone who thinks periods and pools don’t mix hasn’t met Melbourne water

ballet squad The Clams. The group – formed a year ago in the ashes of a feminist

book club – are on a mission to end the tampon tax. “We were struggling to read

the same book at the same time, and it became a running joke that we should

try water ballet instead,” says founder Francis van Beek. The group, made up of

30 women (including an architect, photographer and scientist) are performing

their menstrual-themed aquatic show Crimson Tide at the Melbourne Fringe

Festival in September, in an effort to underscore the injustice of the tampon tax.

But their anger comes with a good dose of humour. “So often when it comes

to periods women are the butt of the joke,” says van Beek. “So it’s quite nice

to turn that on its head and have women leading the joke and enjoying it.”

Founder of the Women

of the World festival

THE BEGINNING

Eight years ago, Jude Kelly felt the

West was becoming complacent

about the battle for gender equality.

“My grandmother left school at 12,

so I knew we’d achieved a lot since

then, but the job was not done,”

says Kelly, artistic director of the

Southbank Centre in London. “I felt

like we’d dropped the ball. I wanted

young women to feel the joy of

changing the world for the better.”

THE FESTIVAL

In 2010, Kelly launched the Women

of the World (WOW) festival in

London as a way of reviving the

women’s movement – celebrating

our achievements while tackling

the obstacles we still face. More

than a million people have taken

part in WOW to date (including

Emma Watson and Annie Lennox)

and by 2018, it will have taken

place in 53 countries.

THE FUTURE

WOW is coming to Brisbane next

year to coincide with the 2018

Commonwealth Games. Kelly

hopes the event will ignite the fires

of progress for women in the

Commonwealth and beyond.

“Women have huge power if they

know how to wield it,” she says.

“We are half of the world. If we

connect with each other and

mobilise that power, it would be

a better world for everyone.”

WOW: Celebrating the Women

of the Commonwealth will be held

in Brisbane from April 6-8, 2018.

JUDE KELLY

CONVERSATION

SNAPSHOT

POOL PARTY

HOW MUCH

TAMPONS

ARE TAXED

AROUND

THE

WORLD* Slovakia20%Australia10%USA6.25% UK 5%Ireland0%

NEWSFEED