In 2016, Jude Kelly visited Redes da Maré to get to know the Women’s House of Maré, a space dedicated to stimulating the political leadership of girls and women. Based on this meeting, Jude Kelly proposed to Redes da Maré the challenge of holding a festival to bring together the voices, experiences, and ideas of women in Rio de Janeiro, with all their diversity.

Thought up by diverse women, the WOW Festival aims to provide reflection on feminist issues, promote debate, connection between different women and realities, celebrate women's achievements, and exalt the progress they have been making, whether collectively or individually. WOW believes in the power of this union and moves to make the female universe conquer more and more spaces.

The Festival draws its inspiration from the Women of the World Festival (WOW), which was idealized by Jude Kelly, at the time an art director at a cultural center called Southbank Centre, located in London. WOW has taken place in 23 countries between Europe, Asia and Africa. Its edition in Rio de Janeiro will be the first one to occur in Latin America and it will assemble women from all over the city besides national and international guests in dozens of activities regarding the diversity of the feminine experience in the world today. Learn more!

LEARN MORE ABOUT WOW'S LATEST ISSUES:

ECOAR FESTIVAL 2022

ECOAR is a meeting to spark conversations, address the global crisis of sexual violence, contribute to overcoming the shame often associated with it, create and strengthen support networks, and give everyone the chance to tell societies: enough, sexual violence must end.

It is inspired by the Shameless! Festival, a one-day event that brought together activism and art in 2021, in London, to confront and change attitudes towards sexual violence, share ideas and imagine a world free from rape. Shameless! was created in collaboration by the SHaME project at the University of Birkbeck and WOW - Women of the World. The first edition of the festival in Brazil took place in Rio de Janeiro in September 2022 at MAR, produced by Redes da Maré.

WOW RIO FESTIVAL 2020 ::Online

In 2020, due to the pandemic, the event was held in an online version, but continued to promote an environment for women to exchange experiences and knowledge. More than 30 guests were together, in a 12-hour program, to reflect on this moment of crisis and challenges, through dialogues, workshops, and artistic interventions.

GLOBAL WOW 24 - 2020

During the pandemic, women from all over the world raised their voices in the Global WOW 24 Hour Festival, which took place on June 27th and 28th. Curated by Redes da Maré, a three-hour program was presented with women activists, artists, and academics to discuss the deepening of social and gender inequality and the economic impacts of the pandemic on Brazilian women.

SEE THE VIDEO PLAYLIST!

WOW GIRLS 2020

October 11th is declared by the United Nations as the Girls International Day, a moment to celebrate the potential of girls up to 18 years old around the world and their achievements. And also, to alert, reflect, and make visible the challenges faced by millions of them.

The first Girls International Day took place in 2012. In the program, girl leaders discussed topics such as racism, pandemic, and education. To close the day's activities, an amazing show with MC Soffia took place. The event, curated by Redes da Maré, was broadcast on the WOW’s YouTube channel and Facebook.

SEE THE VIDEO PLAYLIST!

WOW WARM-UP - 2019

Throughout 2019, to discuss definitive issues for women, Redes da Maré held the WOW Warm-Up, a series of six meetings that occupied different territories in the city with activities in the four dimensions of the Women of the World Festival (WOW) - dialogues, activism, entrepreneurship, and art and culture interventions. The idea was to draw attention - until the 2nd edition of WOW, which took place in November 2020, in Rio de Janeiro - to the cause of women, building bridges to other projects and new possibilities, mobilizing and bringing the women's agenda in a permanent and systematic way.

WOMEN OF THE WORLD FESTIVAL :: WOW RIO 2018

In 2018, there were three days of emotion, learning, and joy. The Women of the World Festival, which took place from November 16th to 18th, 2018, had roundtables, shared stories, workshops, and an intense artistic and cultural program - and the best part, everything was free! A celebration that spread across the Museu de Arte do Rio, Museu do Amanhã and Pier Mauá Pavilion 1, in Rio de Janeiro.

THE WOMEN OF THE WORLD FESTIVAL ENCOMPASSES 4 DIMENSIONS:

The Women of the World Festival is a space where women from Rio de Janeiro can discuss their life paths, challenges and ambitions in a dialogue with women from other cities and countries. The schedule planning and selection of attendees, under the responsibility of Redes da Maré and Southbank Centre, embodied inputs of about 200 women who participated in a focus group. See below some of the confirmed guests: