International Women’s Day Festival Statement

We are delighted to have Munroe Bergdorf as one of our speakers for our International Women’s Day Festival (IWDF) at the MAC. This event is one in a series of important discussions, workshops, and talks in a week-long online programme. Following the publicising of this event, we received a number of upsetting responses via social media.

We want the MAC to be a space of learning, growth, care, and community. We’ve put a great deal of time and energy into thinking about the kind of shared cultural and civic space we want the MAC to be. Our core aim of being inclusive of everyone who connects with our programme, or visits our venue, and online spaces is incredibly important to us.

So we want to be really clear about what this means for us. The MAC is anti-sectarian, meaning we believe in coalition-building among people with different backgrounds and experiences. Respectful debate, discussion and learning are actively encouraged.

The MAC will not tolerate sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, nor oppressive language or behaviour deemed prejudicial towards any community based on any structural inequality, including disability, socioeconomic status, sexuality, age, education, religious affiliation, or gender expression.

This year, our IWDF events will take place remotely and in accordance with the current necessary public health guidelines. The Festival is open online to as many people as possible, from wherever in the world they are. We have also introduced a pay what you can afford model including a free option because we want the Festival to be as inclusive as possible.

Going online is the only thing which is changing this year. We hope you will join us. View and get tickets to all IWDF events here.