A List, To Start

Update: Better organized list, with links and everything, is now live: A List of Women Speakers for Your Conference. Please post additions, errors and omissions in the comments over there.

Tokion Magazine's upcoming Creativity Now conference claims to be bringing together the "top figures" across a variety of creative disciplines. Oddly none of the 20-some-odd figures are women. They said they tried but couldn't find any. We say: try harder.

Brooklyn Vegan made a good point, which is that I have as yet not offered any solutions, just raised an issue . So, I just sat for a couple of minutes and put together a list of women who'd be potentially great speakers at the Creativity Now conference. I will track back and add links and/or affiliations later. In the near term, I wanted to get some suggestions out there.

I am personally not strong on music and screenwriting/film recommendations. If you have names you'd like to add, please comment below or email me: person AT personism DOT com

My list, so far (Apologies in advance for spelling errors, omissions and it's general lack of orderliness):

Ellen Lupton
Jessica Helfland
Tina Roth Eisenberg (SwissMiss)
Julia Leach
Kate Spade
Alice Roy
Lisa Yuskavage
Mirabelle Marden (Rivington Arms)
Melissa Bent (Rivington Arms)
Alessandra Sanguinetti
Louise Fili
Xeni Jardin
Meg Hourihan
Caterina Fake
Heather Champ
Paddy Johnson
Jessica Coen
Youngna Park
Lauren Cerand
Emilia Fanjul
Dannielle Romano
Pavia Rosati
Janice Erlbaum
Jessica Vitkus
Susan + Katherine Hable (Hable Construction)
Mara Hoffman
danah boyd
Mena Trott
Zoe Strauss
Erika Hall (mule design)
Maya Hayuk
Eileen Gittins (ceo:blurb)
Jill Greenberg (photographer)
Portia Wells (designer)
Julie Taraska (editor)
Jane Pratt
Caroline Waxler (The Glasshouse)
Shoshanna Berger (ReadyMade)
Kate Bingaman (Obsessive Consumption)
Kathy Ryan
Jody Quan
Sara Schiller (Wooster Collective)
Patricia Field
Gina Trapiani
Janice Fraser
Farai Chideya
Lily Burana
Mikki Halpin
Kristen Williams
Elizabeth Spiers
Karen Sandler
Paige West
Jennifer Chung
Rachel Sklar
Maud Newton
Molly Steenson
Grace Bonney (design*sponge)
Eva Hagberg
Maira Kalman
Paula Scher
Paola Antonelli
Jayne Mayle
Tracy Reese

Comments

[Jen Bekman]

Hi Ralph

Absolutely, diversity doesn't stop at gender. I brought up the issue as it pertains to women because it was the thing that pissed me off and struck closest to home. When I created my initial list, I paid attention to inclusion in terms of sexual orientation and ethnicity and
when I start putting together a conference schedule I will surely be mindful of these issues.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss the conversation we're having thus far - If you look at the list closely, you'll notice that there is a good deal of diversity.

Starting somewhere is good.

[Women of NYC]

Female Graffiti Artist

Lady Pink
Toofly - http://tooflydesign
Muck
Indie
Fever
QA

[Alice]

How about...

Catherine Breillat
Beth Gibbons
Lydia Davis
Elise Engler
Exena Cervenka
Leslie Calmes
Faith Wilding
Judy Chicago
Barbara Degenevieve
Miriam Shapiro
Diane Williams
Jeanne Dunning

[sabine druce]

Marissa di Mattia - lawyer, writer, and above all ardant figurehead of the tattoo arts. A energy and force to be reckoned with.

[rw]

It's hard to read through this and not think, "What about X?," there are so many names that come to mind. I wasn't going to chime in on who Tokion could have invited, but since you're thinking of a different conference here are some of the names that occurred to me. I realize your conference won't be all women, but these are all women because they're "What about X?" examples who happen to do work that I've found interesting in one way or another:

On the filmmaker/screenwriter front:
+ Lori Silverbush, "On The Outs" [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389235] verite-ish drama about young women in Jersey City, I'd love to know more about the story behind that film.
+ Jennifer Livingston, "Paris Is Burning." I recently watched the DVD and thought it held up incredibly well, I'm sort of curious about her.
+ Penelope Spheeris. Whatever you think of her pop work (Wayne's World etc.), the "Decline" documentaries make her basically immortal.
+ Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Lords of Dogtown)

Creative entrepreneurial types (DIY/brand underground/streetwear/ whatever):
+ Leah Kramer of Craftster / Bazaar Bizarre / Magpie shop.
+ Leah from Married to the Mob, the streetwear brand; that's a very,very male scene,but Married to the Mob seems to be a fixture at this point.
+ Faythe Levine, DIY/craft person with brand and store/gallery, may be a good one because she's doing a documentary about the indie-craft scene right now.
+ Poketo co-founder (with Ted Vadakan) Angie Myung.

Artists/photographers:
+ Rosemary Williams [http://www.rosemarywilliams.com/]
+ Julie Christensen [http://www.bigboxreuse.com/]
+ Stefanie Nagorka [http://stefanienagorka.com/articles.htm]
+ Zoe Sheehan Saldana [ http://www.zoesheehan.com/art_work/index.html]
(All four of the above part of recent "Point of Purchase" show in dumbo.)

Media:
Carrie McLaren / Stay Free!

Not sure how to categorize:
Aimee Weber, Second Life content creator. [http://history.secondserver.net/index.php/Aimee_Weber]

Among musicians, I second S-K, MIA, and Kathleen Hanna.

I also have to tout Laurie Anderson, who is one of my all time heroes (mostly for pre-Strange Angels work, but still -- even now, she's the thinking person's David Byrne.)

I hope there aren't too many repeats there,I did try to check...

[Jesse]

here's a few of the coolest living architects (I think) who are women:

Farshid Moussavi
Winka Dubbeldam
Amale Andraos

[maya hayuk]

here's wooster collective's list. they have also started a petition.
http://www.woostercollective.com/

Camille Rose Garcia
Beth Coleman
Aya Takano
Chiho Aoshima
Megan McGuinness
Erika Somogyi
Mary Ellen Mark
A'yen
Io aka Monkey Six
Nina Mouritzen
Maya Hayuk
Jenny Holzer
Barbara Kruger
Aiko (of Faile)
Martha Cooper
Kim Hastreiter
Merry Kernowsky
Magda Danysz
Jen Bekman
Christina Ray
Jiae Kim
Regine Debatty
Swoon
Alice Arnold
Jasmine Zimmerman
Tara McPherson
Caryn Coleman
Gaetane Michaux
Christina Ray
Kalene Rivers
Miss Van

[Kimberly]

The wealth of talented women creatives that has been amassed on this and other sites is impressive, but many of the suggested speakers aren't necessarily going to appeal to Tokion's target audience. It would be interesting and potentially illuminating to find out what Tokion's agenda was for each panel (is anyone else frustrated by their cryptic titles and lack of explanation?), and what criteria the conference-organizers used in selecting speakers and moderators to invite.

As for me, these are some of the talented women whose perspective on modern creativity I'd like to hear (edited for duplicates from the lists above):

Georgie Stout and Susan Sellers (2x4)
Suzanne Trocme (Wallpaper* and Bernhardt)
Libby Sellers (London Design Museum)
Ruby Metzner (hivemindesign)
Lara Hedburg Deam (founder of Dwell)
Amanda Levete (Future Systems)
Barbara Bloemink (Cooper-Hewitt Natl Design Museum)

[99]

I worked with a designer a couple years back who was part of the Tokion Mafia. And it is small-minded, incestous, backscratching mafia. Same guys, same asthetic, same bullshit. I heard quite specific, negative comments about women as designers in general. As in, they couldn't be.

It's a bunch of overgrown skateboard artists wearing Bathing Ape shirts, who lack the ability to think critically, and pat each other on the back over and over. Maybe that's why anyone who doesn't participate in their circle jerk had a hard time clearing their schedule.

A 'Creativity' conference that couldn't find a creative response to an obvious problem (and it is a problem of communication -- an implicit act of curatorial organization that cannot find a way to showcase a female designer)? That says all we need to know about them.

Hey, Ken, I have lots of black friends too.

[Uncommon Industries]

Colorblok, colorblok.com
Tiffany Malakooti, jigaram.com
Miss Van, missvan.com
Jemma Gura, prate.com
Junko Mizuno, junkomizuno.com

I would write more but I'll be late for work!! There are endless amazing ladies. I'm sure SOMEONE would be more than happy to go!

[ken]

Hi Jen,

Well, turns out that a couple of female speakers confirm over the weekend.

And here is where it gets tricky: If we were to have invited them in response to your protests, we would also be implying that we invited them just because they are women. Basically, that they were quota-fillers, rather than individuals who have achieved success and are deserving of consideration on their own merits.

As I keep emphasizing, that was absolutely not the case. We started the invite list months ago, with a very balanced list of invitees. I think it's terrific to see your readers generating this long list of female creatives - hopefully it will be a handy resource for future creative discussions.

I do, however, also feel the need to point out that lots of the people on the list were, in fact, invited to the conference (Swoon, Tina Fey, Joanna Newsome, Pipilotti Rist, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Dana Schutz...) or are participating (Erika Somogyi, who has a video screening between panels at the conference, and who is also the lead interview in our current issue) or have been in the magazine over the years (Jo Jackson, Katy Grannan, Nina Mouritzen, Cheryl Dunn, Wendy Mullin, Kim Gordon, Bjork, Chan Marshall, among many).

So, I think what is confusing on our end is the apparent assumption that we suddenly decided to change our editorial policy to exclude female artists, after the support we've given many of the listed artists over the years. Or would it be more fair to put Lauren Graham (actor, Gillmore Girls) onstage with the photographer Mary Ellen Mark, just because they are both female?

As I mentioned before, I think it would be a terrific solution for you to organize a conference dedicated exclusively to women working in the creative industries. I think there would be a ton to talk about. And Tokion would be happy to be the media sponsor, since it would be entirely in keeping with our editorial agenda over the years.

Thanks,

Ken

[99]

The problem isn't the timing, Ken, but that you are running the CYA playbook chapter and verse. Given that this sort of situation has been happening over and over in many institutions (who remembers Moby Live doing the New Yorker contributors breakdown for a year -- and it consistently ran 80/20), and that for most of the people on this blog have seen this situation over and over again for out entire adult life, had you responded any other way -- or if something had transpired or been made public before Jen had to write this post, we might think otherwise.

It should have never gotten this far. And that certainly isn't Jen's fault.

You might have a shred of credibily up until the end there, but slagging Lauren Grahan (art collector and Barnard grad) when you have Jason Lee speaking? That's all we need to know about you.

[maya hayuk]

personally, i would love to hear what deanne cheuk has to say.

[Heidi Panelli]

Looks like lots of great, talented women to choose from for next year's list, Ken.

In response to this debate, I wanted to say that I find it odd that anyone would think I, as a woman would care whether or not there are women speakers at any conference I attend.

When I attend a conference, I go to learn, be inspired and make connections. I don't care who's talking as long as they're interesting. I don't go in hopes of seeing a cross-section of humanity carefully represented.

I'm sure there are women working in other roles to make the conference a success.

Ken obviously doesn't have any hidden agenda here. He invited men and women, men responted, women did not. They had that right to choose and they chose not to speak. I will still continue to enjoy and be inspired by their contributions to the creative community.

I'd rather have people speak who really want to be there than to have Ken pulling teeth to try and fill a silly quota.

Everybody here has the right to decide whether or not to attend the conference, stay home, or start your own magazine and your own conference (or to continue to get down on Ken).

Sounds like a great conference, Ken. I just wanted to shout out some support for you and your staff.

[ken]

Hi Maya,

I'm not slagging Lauren Graham... I picked two names at random: The point was that putting two random women artists on the panel together JUST because they are women - with nothing else creatively in common (unless there is a bond between those two that I am unaware of), would be insulting to both of them. It would also be insulting to all of the women we already invited.

I read your posting on design sponge and very much agreed with your comments. I also find it ridiculous to make a big deal that we support women artists. And that's not our policy, anyway: We support artists, many of whom are women. So when we sent out an invite to Cindy Sherman to be the keynote speaker at this year's conference, we did it because she's one of the most important artists of the past quarter century. And yes, she is also a woman, but I would be ashamed to have invited her just because she's a woman, rather than because of her remarkable personal achievements.

I think there is this perception that we have unlimited resources that would allow us to correct this imbalance. The most commonly suggestion solution I've been seeing in these postings is that we should have just endlessly kept inviting female speakers once we saw that our confirmation list had turned out to be so overwhelmingly male. I have to wonder if they're aware that Tokion has a full time staff of only four people.

It is has been remarkable to see this outpouring of outrage generated by our little magazine.

[maya hayuk]

woah, woah ken. i wasn't the person who wrote the reply about lauren graham, etc. all i've posted are lists of awesome women and then later added deanne cheuk. i do realize a lot of these women have graced your pages, which is another reason i wondered why they aren't part of the conference.

i know tokion, its credibility, its reputation. The Disobedients issue was one of the most important moves for a magazine ever.

as far as i'm concerned, we create our own utopias based on how we choose to see the world.
this means i believe i am successful because of the merit of my work, not because i am a jelly bean. even though i find myself in a dude-dominated environment constantly, i don't think of myself as a minority. i don't feel ghettoized and i don't need my hand held. what i do need is to see the creative community represented as what it is: diverse.

thank you for this dialogue.

[ken]

Whoops! Sorry about that, Maya! Didn't mean to confuse my postings up... I've been really appreciative of your comments.

The more I think about it, the more I feel like the only possible solution is to try and be fair in how you conduct your business. Which, in this case, means being fair in who you invite. I keep wracking my brain for alternate solutions we could have come up with to correct the imbalance, and I can't really come up with any. Yes, we send out the invites, but while we can try hardest to get people to say yes, that choice is ultimately theirs.

In hindsight, we probably should have been more clear that we also noticed how weird it was that the speakers list was turning out to be so overwhelmingly male. But I think, because we knew who we'd invited, thought just didn't occur to us. Which was clearly a mistake on our part.

I'm definitely going to be stealing suggestions from this list everyone is generating. It's also really, really great to see so many of the people we already work with being mentioned here. That's not covering my ass - that's being proud to see people who do great work getting the recognition they deserve.

Ken

[99]

Limited resources -- check. I'm surprised you waited until now to pull that out.

I'm betting that if we did a survery of honoraria (wider than just your conference), we would find that women get less than men. So it would make sense to invite more to them, right? Best use of those limited resources.

A residual benefit approaching issues like this is, you know, fresh voices. Cindy Sherman? Nan Goldin? Y'all must of thought long and hard about before coming up with them. Hey, here's a fresh idea: David Bryne. Now that's some creative thinking.

[maya hayuk]

No prob, ken. thanks.
i am eager to see how the roster develops.

[Ralph]

Tokion started as a way to represent Japanese culture in the Western world - back then it was a better magazine anyway. I'm over it.

But you can't blame people for back-scratching people who are like minded, and supporting each others aspirations. How many people, that we feel are excluded, actually read Tokion magazine?

[jh]

I like that Tokion's solution, after they approached 20 really big name women and they couldn't do it, wasn't to work down the list til they found more women, but to give up. And that their secondary excuse was "well, if we picked women now, we'd just be tokenizing you, just to get a balance" as if there weren't roughly A ZILLION ladies creating in NY who deserve more panels and conferences than Tokion will ever even give them, as if most of us don't live year in year out being tokenized and marginalized already. It doesn't have to be "tokenizing", it coould just be like... it's the fair thing to do, the least Tokion can do to NOT further art-world patriarchal prescrption.

Then, there is also the "well maybe next year you can set up a special womens panel/conference" reconciliation--which is a nice if ghettoizing gesture, but we have already Ladyfest and Venus for those things. Thirdly, the Brooklyn Vegan "well, you are just pointing out the problem, not coming up with the solution"--putting the onus on the marginalized party is some really tired old shit, straight up. Dude, it's not the marginalized persons JOB NOR THEIR RESPONSIBILITY to come up with a solution for how the marginalizer (?) to stop oppressing or marginalizing them.

[Michael Surtees]

add another vote to SwissMiss, and one for Robynne Raye

[Ralph]

Jh,

Actually, yes it IS the responsibility of the marginalized to come up with solutions for the marginalizer to stop marginalizing or oppressing them. Duh. You can't sit around hoping and wishing. "Dude."

[Pablo Rodriguez]

I think the whole problem is the name of the event "Creativity now" never been there because the last years coincide with my festival, but know very well the magazine and i really like it.I know Adam Glickman who came for the first Candela Fest i know he is not there anymore. Is not easy that kind of event everyday we learn something new. I hope it comes out fine.
I don't see any Boricua woman there Rosie Perez just release a great movie documentary "Yo soy boricua" and Wanda Ortiz is a great Nuyorrican muralist that been doing some great projects with diferent museums , both lives in NYC. Just 2 suggestions for this year or next.
I run a gallery myself where i had Swoon, Maya , Nina, Ruby Osorio, Yuri Shimojo (any of them boricuas just in case) between others and i invite you to check Wanda murals at Museo del Barrio or check www.myspace.com/wepawoman very good stuff i am sure Wooster people will love it. Let me take the oportunity to advertise the 5th Candela art and Music fest with Lee Quinones solo show "Prelude" opening the 19. Get your tickets! Peace.

[not ken]

Nobody suggested Paris Hilton?