Art group honours women

WOMEN’S art group, 13 Moons Collective, invited Honour a Woman co-founder Dr Elizabeth Hartnell Young into the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute last week to talk about the disparity between the awarding of national honour to women and men.

The Honour a Woman movement advocates for greater equality in the number of women that receive Order of Australia medals, awards and other titles, and Dr Hartnell Young said part of their aim is letting people know what they can do to “right the balance.”

“We saw that there were problems in the proportion of women getting Australian honours. It was only 30 per cent when we began,” she said.

“It can look a bit daunting to nominate someone, to fill in the form and get the referees. What we’re saying is we’re here to help. Our tagline is better a nomination than an obituary.”

Dr Hartnell Young said honouring a woman goes beyond recognising significant “tangible” achievements in celebrating the impact of women on our everyday lives.

Order of Australia honours are announced twice a year, and with the next list set for the Queen’s Birthday weekend, 13 Moons’ Diana Coverdale said their upcoming exhibition on Saturday, June 11 will honour a woman in their own way.

“We’re choosing one woman in our lives, living or not, and creating an artwork to honour her. It ties in beautifully with Elizabeth’s more formal movement which we’ve sort of piggybacked off.” she said.

“What I’m honouring are some of the things that have been passed on to me. There’s something about watching the women in our lives do their daily tasks that stays with you forever.

“It’s important that women have come together to make this happen, and I think there’s a real power in that and a real statement about what can happen when people come together for a common purpose.”

13 Moons Collective’s exhibition will be open at Art Space Ballarat at 14 Lydiard Street North until Tuesday, 12 July.