SDG 5: Gender Equality
Credit: Sungi Mlengeya
Credit: Sungi Mlengeya
SDG 5: Gender Equality
“Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can effect change – it can not only move us, it makes us move.”
– Ossie Davis, American writer, actor, director, and social activist
Art can change the way we see the world. As a tool for advocacy, it sheds light on different perspectives, sparks social movements, and strengthens solidarity. Through the Arts for Gender Equality Fellowship, CARE is supporting eight visionary artists whose work seeks to raise awareness and advance gender equality through creative expression. Established in 2022 and made possible through a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, the fellowship brings together diverse voices from across Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
We invite you to meet four of the artists below. To read interviews with all eight fellows and learn more about this initiative and the work that comes out of it, visit: care.org/gender-equality-artist-fellowship.
Sungi Mlengeya is a self-taught artist born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and currently living in Arusha, Tanzania. Her paintings often feature dark figures in minimal shades of black and browns against white backgrounds, commemorating the women around her. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and in 2020, Sungi was honored in Apollo 40 Under 40 Africa, a selection of the most inspirational young people in the African art world.
“Art enables us to reimagine and represent the world in ways that we want, and these new presentations can have the potential to impact lives. When artists give us creations of justice and freedom, then there is possibility for such change.”
– Sungi Mlengeya
Soe Yu Nwe is an artist from Myanmar with an MFA in Ceramics from Rhode Island School of Design. Soe Yu’s experience living cross-culturally has inspired her to reflect on her own identity through making art, conceiving it as a fluid, fragile and fragmented entity. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and in 2019, Soe Yu was named in Forbes 30 Under 30: Art & Style.
“By generating discussion around issues of feminism, diversity, history of displacement, and censorship, I believe art can raise awareness of these social issues, and therefore can be a great tool for catalyzing social change.”
– Soe Yu Nwe
Emilia Yang (she/her/hers) is an artist, organizer, researcher, and director of “AMA y No Olvida, Museum of Memory against Impunity” from Nicaragua. Her research explores the role of memory, violence, emotions, performance, and participation in the political imagination. Her art practice utilizes expanded forms of digital media (XR, transmedia, web, interactive, films, archives, performance, games, and public interventions) for the creation of community-based feminist, anti-racist, and transformative justice projects and futures.
“I hope to share experiences, practices, and tools that strengthen our creative and organizing processes. I believe that weaving support networks of women has the power to transform our societies.”
– Emilia Yang
Dayna Ash (she/they) is an intersectional feminist, performing artist, writer, and the founder and Executive Director of Haven for Artists, a cultural feminist organization working at the intersection of art and activism. The recipient of multiple awards, Dayna was named by the BBC as one of its 100 Most Inspirational Women in 2019.
“I hope the work will inspire others to share experiences and stories that are erased or underrepresented. Too many of our lived realities are forced into silence, disappearing into the cracks of time.”
– Dayna Ash
Sungi Mlengeya is a self-taught artist born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and currently living in Arusha, Tanzania. Her paintings often feature dark figures in minimal shades of black and browns against white backgrounds, commemorating the women around her. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and in 2020, Sungi was honored in Apollo 40 Under 40 Africa, a selection of the most inspirational young people in the African art world.
“Art enables us to reimagine and represent the world in ways that we want, and these new presentations can have the potential to impact lives. When artists give us creations of justice and freedom, then there is possibility for such change.”
– Sungi Mlengeya
Soe Yu Nwe is an artist from Myanmar with an MFA in Ceramics from Rhode Island School of Design. Soe Yu’s experience living cross-culturally has inspired her to reflect on her own identity through making art, conceiving it as a fluid, fragile and fragmented entity. Her work has been exhibited internationally, and in 2019, Soe Yu was named in Forbes 30 Under 30: Art & Style.
“By generating discussion around issues of feminism, diversity, history of displacement, and censorship, I believe art can raise awareness of these social issues, and therefore can be a great tool for catalyzing social change.”
– Soe Yu Nwe
Emilia Yang (she/her/hers) is an artist, organizer, researcher, and director of “AMA y No Olvida, Museum of Memory against Impunity” from Nicaragua. Her research explores the role of memory, violence, emotions, performance, and participation in the political imagination. Her art practice utilizes expanded forms of digital media (XR, transmedia, web, interactive, films, archives, performance, games, and public interventions) for the creation of community-based feminist, anti-racist, and transformative justice projects and futures.
“I hope to share experiences, practices, and tools that strengthen our creative and organizing processes. I believe that weaving support networks of women has the power to transform our societies.”
– Emilia Yang
Dayna Ash (she/they) is an intersectional feminist, performing artist, writer, and the founder and Executive Director of Haven for Artists, a cultural feminist organization working at the intersection of art and activism. The recipient of multiple awards, Dayna was named by the BBC as one of its 100 Most Inspirational Women in 2019.
“I hope the work will inspire others to share experiences and stories that are erased or underrepresented. Too many of our lived realities are forced into silence, disappearing into the cracks of time.”
– Dayna Ash
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