Women Should Be In Charge: Film Screenings & Panel Discussion

Home Live Art and the ICA present a night of performance, music, participatory activities, films and talks, curated by artist Bob & Roberta Smith and celebrating powerful female voices from the worlds of art, music and politics.

12pm – 5.30pm I Should Be In Charge

A free screening of the latest edit of a feature documentary about Bob and Roberta Smith. London-based filmmaker John Rogers has been following the artist since July 2009 to make this film, I Should Be in Charge, due for completion later in 2011.

John Rogers has worked on numerous projects with comedian Russell Brand and completed his first feature documentary in 2009, The London Perambulator. He also produces and co-presents a radio show on Resonance 104.4fm with Nick Papadimitriou, Ventures and Adventures in Topography.

6pm - 7.30pm Panel discussion and film

During the evening Bob & Roberta Smith invites people to sign up to a proposed new law, Esther’s Law, based on a sculpture by Jacob Epstein of his teenage daughter, which seems to challenge the male hegemony of art. Esther's Law suggests that society should create a truly representative political system, including women making up 50% of parliament.

Taking this as a starting point, a panel of influential women chaired by curator and broadcaster Cecilia Wee including artist Sonia Boyce, Professor of Social Science Janet Newman from the Open University, artist Ana Laura Lopez de la Torre and Bob & Roberta Smith discuss whether Esther’s Law is necessary.

Artist Bob & Roberta Smith wants to see a parliament that is representative of the diversity of gender, ethnicity and range of abilities in contemporary society. But in an age where power is increasingly shifting away from organised nation-state politics and where grass-roots women-led organisations make a real difference, does it matter whether or not women are elected into Downing Street?

7.30pm – 10pm Selection of films by Katherine Aranielo

In a series of films, Katherine Aranielo subverts and parodies contemporary issues around disability such as assisted suicide, media representation, prejudice, charity, ignorance and body aesthetics. She uses film, performance and other media to transform stereotypical representation into works that deliver their critique with humour and playfulness.

Aranielo is a London-based artist and filmmaker who studied a MA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths (2004) and has been shown at Tate Modern, Tate Britain and film festivals worldwide.