During the sixty-ninth session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW69) and in celebration of Women’s History Month, Art Republic and Spotlight Initiative hosted a reception to launch the groundbreaking large-scale digital art installation, ‘The Light Within’ on 4 March at the United Nations Visitors’ Lobby in New York.
This immersive installation of digital art explores themes of resilience, creativity and power through the works of leading contemporary female digital artists. The proceeds from select artworks and donors will support the WithHer Fund, a collaboration between the United Nations Foundation and Spotlight Initiative that provides flexible funding to frontline, grassroots women’s rights organizations tackling violence against women and girls worldwide.
Speakers included Spotlight Initiative Global Coordinator Erin Kenny, Head of Section for Sustainable Development and International Partnerships at the European Union (EU) Delegation to the United Nations (UN), Renaud Savignat, UN Foundation Senior Vice President and Head of the New York Office Sofia Borges and ArtRepublic Founder and CEO Jessica Santiago, as well as several of the artists featured in the exhibition.
Internationally renowned artists in the exhibition included IX Shells, Sasha Stiles, Delphine Diallo, Yatreda, Linda Dounia, Emily Xie, Entangled Others, Lyn Godley and Melissa Wiederrecht. Their innovative artworks blend technology and storytelling, offering visitors moments of awe, presence and mental well-being.
The Master of Ceremonies was Spotlight Initiative Head of Communications Koye Adeboye and guests enjoyed a musical performance by singer-songwriter Liz Lorke.
In her opening statement, Spotlight Initiative Global Coordinator Erin Kenny thanked the EU for its original investment in Spotlight Initiative, explaining that “with that [seed funding], we are on track to prevent 21 million women and girls from experiencing violence.” Ms. Kenny also expressed gratitude to ArtRepublic, the artists exhibiting and to the UN Foundation for their partnership. “Through the WithHer Fund, we are able to invest in women’s rights organizations on the ground to do the work that the UN often can’t invest in, to be able to really meaningfully engage with women and girls who otherwise wouldn’t be served,” she said.
Head of Section for Sustainable Development and International Partnerships at the EU Delegation to the UN, Renaud Savignat, highlighted the timely nature of the exhibition. “We believe that in the context of increasing pushback on women’s rights, it’s good to be reminded of the enduring power of women around the world.” Mr. Savignat also reiterated the EU’s commitment to working closely with the UN and other partners to eliminate violence against women and girls. “Spotlight Initiative is not just another programme, it is a tried and tested model with more transformative and sustainable results in the fight against gender-based violence,” he said.
United Nations Foundation Senior Vice President and Head of the New York Office, Sofia Borges, said that with support from the private sector, “The WithHer Fund has dispersed more than half a million dollars to its first cohort of grantees. These are grassroots organizations in Argentina, Belize, El Salvador, Malawi, Mali and Trinidad and Tobago.”
Speaking about the theme of the exhibition, ArtRepublic Founder and CEO Jessica Santiago said that she had wanted to curate a show exploring the reverence that ancient cultures had for the wisdom, intuition and harmony that women bring to society. “What’s beautiful about the artists in this show is that there is a thread, this sense of looking back into the ancient yet using such cutting edge tools,” said Ms. Santiago.
Following the speeches, artists gave short statements on their works.
Kiya Tadele, the Creative Director of Ethiopian art collective Yatreda, reflected on her work ‘Sister Therapy’, which references the role of family in emotional wellbeing in Ethiopian culture. “In Ethiopia, when you have stress, depression or anything, you don’t go to the therapist, you go to your loved ones,” she explained.
Artist Emily Xie said she harnessed digital techniques, generative art techniques and A.I. to create a work that invites viewers to project their “own narrative and meaning and to form their own narrative world as a way of speaking to the idea of the light within.”
Artist Lyn Godley, a painter, spoke about her research using immersive art in healthcare, explaining that “art really can help people decouple from this world and take them someplace else, and help people heal.”
Poet and language artist Sasha Stiles spoke to the empowering nature of digital art. “We are all in an arena that is sometimes coded as male and is often male-dominated. Many of us are used to having to fight to be heard. For all of us, technology is a way of lifting our voices up and telling stories that need to be told.”
“My work is a dream realized,” said photographer and artist Delphine Diallo. “For me, A.I. is not just artificial intelligence but ancestral intelligence.” She explained that the tool allows her to visualize the dreams she has experienced since she was a child and explore worlds where the power of men and women is more equal.
‘The Light Within’ is open from 4 March – 25 March, 2025 at the United Nations Headquarters Visitors’ Lobby, E46th and 1st Ave, New York.
