Declaration of Sentiments

Artist list

Nevin Arig, Erica Bello, Jessica Calderwood
, Melissa Cameron, Fatima Tocornal Garcia, Cata Gibert
, Yajie Hu, Helena Lehtinen, Anna Lewis, Eija Mustonen
, Barbara Paganin
, Sondra Sherman, Niki Stylianou, Burcu Sülek
, Tarja Tuupanen, Eva Van Kempen, Snem Yildirim

Throughout the history, the existence of women in social life has been tried to be made invisible. The woman, who was previously described with symbols of fertility, abundance and goddess , was depicted as an evil creature in the Middle Ages. With the evolution of the matriarchal structure to the patriarchal structure, women were forced to live in a male-dominated world without equality.

In the history of art women artists were ignored, and their work was only associated with craft requiring manual dexterity. Nevertheless, in this historical process, women artists opposed the marginalization and rejected the gender based roles imposed by the patriarchal system.  They continued their struggle in the field of art by running their own galleries, organizing their own exhibitions and opening their own art schools.

The Declaration of Sentiments exhibition was designed as a continuation of this historical process and brought together women artists within the framework of gender based women's struggle in the art environment.