My thesis collects women's experiences of sexism in different types of spaces in my home town and brings their stories to life in the form of a promenade theatre in the city.
This theatre will initially be placed in a traditional theatre for performance. With the support of the authorities these stages will be placed in the city. In the future, the audience will also be able to experience the stories of women from different backgrounds by walking through the space.
The aim of this project is to educate people about sexism in society and the environment in which women live. Sexism is an idea that has been ingrained in the minds of people in China for centuries, and this prejudice and discrimination has affected generations of women in China.
For the beginning of my thesis, I was inspired by William Kentridge, who focused on the stories of the oppressed. As I was completing my thesis I kept thinking about how his work could be reinterpreted from a female perspective. This eventually helped me to come up with the idea of a promenade theatre in the city.
Currently, my four stage installations cover four types of spaces in the city, including traditional buildings, public spaces, residences and office spaces. This is a proposal for dramatised feminist urban planning, with each of the four installations providing a planning direction. Through community-led planning discussions and popular participation, the result is a more feminist city. In the future, we hope that these four installations will serve as a guide to help other cities in China with their feminist urban planning, providing a more equal and safe urban environment for Chinese women.
