Imagining Ourselves

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Imagining Ourselves is an exhibition of the International Museum of Women that asks young women around the world: What Defines Your Generation of Women?

1 History
2 Exhibition Themes
3 References
4 External links

More than a million women ages 20 to 40 have that question through a multimedia exploration about the issues that affect their lives. The project includes a published anthology^[clarify] and a dynamic, multi-lingual online exhibition (imaginingourselves.imow.org) with film, photography, music, poetry and personal essays available in four languages: English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

The exhibition has attracted the support of artists and celebrities such as journalist Lisa Ling, comedian Margaret Cho, figure skater Oksana Baiul, Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, writer Immaculée Ilibagiza, actress Jennifer Siebel, writer Rebecca Walker, Journalist and author Mariane Pearl to name a few.

The mission of the project is to give young women around the world a platform and a meeting place to exchange ideas.

[edit] History

Imagining Ourselves began in 2001 when founder Paula Goldman posed the question What Defines Your Generation of Women? to women ages 20 to 40 around the world. She wrote a short call asking women to submit artwork and writings responding to the question and with the help of a few international organizations, she sent it out. Thousands of responses were received.

Soon after, the International Museum of Women in San Francisco signed on to support the project. From the initial responses, the works of more than 100 women – representing a myriad of ethnic, spiritual, economic, and educational backgrounds – in 57 countries were selected for a 240-page anthology. The anthology Imagining Ourselves - Global Voices from a New Generation of Women was published in March 2006 by New World Library.

A mini-exhibit previewed to international delegates at the United Nations Beijing +10 Conference in 2005, and has since toured the world. More than 60 distinguished leaders from around the globe signed on to be ambassadors for the project, as did major international organizations such as Amnesty International and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts.

An online exhibition (imaginingourselves.imow.org) launched on International Women's Day, March 8, 2006, running monthly installments of content around the topics of love, money, culture and conflict, and the future. The site featured community building tools that allowed visitors from around the world to post comments and contribute their own personal stories to the online exhibition.

The Imagining Ourselves online exhibition was slated to run for four months, but after overwhelming response, it was extended until December 2007. The second phase of the exhibition covered topics such as motherhood, young men and image and identity, and the project partnered with Yahoo! Health for a four-month blog (http://blogs.health.yahoo.com/intlwomen) featuring celebrities such as singer Toni Braxton, international model Liya Kebede, and actress and comedian Jenny McCarthy and participants from Imagining Ourselves.

In October 2007, the exhibition debuted its first Imagining Ourselves Online Film Festival. At the end of the year, the online exhibit will come to a close.

[edit] Exhibition Themes

Love	Money	Culture and Conflict	The Future	Best Of IO
Self Relationships Motherhood Health	A World Economy A Day in the Life Work and Family Chart Your Own Path	Migration Devotion Identity Conflict	Imagining Ourselves Generations Acting for the Future	Best of Film Best of Audio Best of Poetry Best of Visual Best of Writing Best of Events

[edit] References

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