Gender equality globally has progressed over the last decades: More girls are going to school, fewer girls are forced into early marriage, more women are serving in parliament and positions of leadership, and laws are being reformed to advance gender equality. Despite these gains, many challenges remain.*
In this exhibition, located in the assembly hall, the fifth-year art students of 2023/24 in Loreto High School Beaufort explore the theme ‘Girlhood’, in the context of their own personal lives. Their work was created in collaboration with the artist Dragana Jurisic and supported by their art teacher Clare Bowe. Each artist brought their own unique perspective to a collaborative interpretation of the theme. Jurisic provided artistic guidance and empowered the students to explore their individuality. Jurisic says:
We explored girlhood and the gender stereotypes that often limit aspirations and self-expression in teenage girls. Today, young girls are bombarded with conflicting ideas about who they are supposed to be and what they should value, causing confusion and insecurity. Exploration of this topic will hopefully be empowering to the participants and enhance self-confidence and self-awareness.
The work was exhibited at The Pearse Museum in 2024. The Pearse Museum has strong connections with the history of Irish education and Ireland’s struggle for political autonomy. Loreto Beaufort is proud of its own history in educating girls which dates back to the seventeenth century and the foundation of the Loreto Order by Mary Ward. In the 1820s, Frances Teresa Ball set up the first Irish Loreto school here in Rathfarnham. Working in the face of great prejudice, the movement these women began has spread to all five continents and has educated many thousands of girls.
Exhibiting artists:
Ailsa Marrinan, Alexandra Byrne, Anna Zhuang, Finn Briody, Ava Crowe, Ciara Murphy, Ciara O’Farrell, Elena Kehoe, Ella Kenny, Emily Menton, Evie Fanning, Gracie Quilty, Isabel Collins, Kirsten Colreavy, Lexi Baynes Smyth, Lucy Mellon, Mimi Leonard, Nicole McCambridge, Saoirse O’Farrell, Siobhán Lane, Sofia Corcoran Kelly.
This project was supported by WorldWise Global Schools and Loreto High School Beaufort.
Congratulations to Elena Kehoe who won Rising Star Award 2024 from The Photo Museum Ireland with her photograph from this project.
