18 Dec V-Day to World Premiere New Artistic Piece, VOICES, Directed by Aja Monet, Grounded in Black Women’s Stories of the African Continent and Diaspora
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: Sunday, December 18, 2022
CONTACT: Anna Zuccaro | anna(at)unbendablemedia.com
V-Day to World Premiere New Artistic Piece, VOICES,
Directed by Aja Monet, Grounded in Black Women’s Stories of the African Continent and Diaspora
VOICES Audio play Kicks off V-Day’s 25th Anniversary and Marks Ghana’s Month of Return
Special Guests include Angela Davis, Rosario Dawson, Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, V (formerly Eve Ensler)
ACCRA, GHANA — On Sunday, 18 December, V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women (cisgender and transgender), gender expansive people, girls, and the planet, will premiere VOICES, an interdisciplinary audio play grounded in Black women’s stories of the African continent and diaspora. Directed by poet and V-Day Artistic Creative Director, Voices, Aja Monet, the VOICES world premiere in Accra will kick off V-Day’s 25th Anniversary year while commemorating Ghana’s Month of Return.
WHAT: World premiere of VOICES audio play
WHERE: The Nubuke Foundation – 7, Lome Cl, Accra, Ghana
WHEN: Sunday, December 18, 2022 at 3:00pm (local time)
WHO: Special guests Angela Davis, Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, Rosario Dawson, V (formerly Eve Ensler)
VIEW THE VOICES WEBSITE HERE: https://voices.vday.org
Launched in late 2020 in light of the pandemic’s disproportionate impact on communities of color, and uprisings for racial justice in the U.S. and across the globe, VOICES initially created space for women in marginalized communities to be seen and heard through writing, art, and performance.
Hundreds of people are expected to gather at Sunday’s event, which will be held at the Nubuke Foundation in Accra and featuring an immersive listening experience of the VOICES audio play; aja monet in conversation with Angela Davis and special guests, a curated art exhibition, sounds by Ghanaian women DJs; remarks from playwright/activist and V-Day founder V (formerly Eve Ensler) and activist, actress and V-Day board member, Rosario Dawson, partners and more. Additional music and sound will be provided by from Ghanaian women DJs.
Over thirty Ghanian and global organizations, including Sorted Chale, Black Girls Glow, GirlTrek, Change.org, Trybe, Drama Queens Ghana, Surf Ghana, Power To Girls, Afrodite&friends and Studio 189, are partnering with V-Day on the VOICES launch event.
“This piece will ultimately be in service and for Black women all over the world, to speak to the complexities of our experiences as well as a collective vision for change, justice, compassion and solidarity. We seek to encourage and establish a world that fosters radical truth-telling love,” said Aja Monet, Artistic Creative Director, V-Day VOICES campaign.
When VOICES began in 2020, it was commissioned as a new play and campaign to take the place where The Vagina Monologues was once centered in the movement. V-Day asked activist and poet Aja Monet to create and direct the project, which she began by inviting Black women to share their stories and participate in a call for their submissions. After receiving over 800 submissions, and two-years of gathering stories, collective study, and collaborating with Black women actors and musicians, twenty-five poems were selected for the final version of VOICES,
VOICES is Directed by Aja Monet, produced by Hollis Heath, and composed by LeahAnn “Lafemmebear” Mitchell.
Follow the VOICES campaign as it emerges on Instagram @visforvoices and voices.vday.org.
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For 25 years, V-Day has unleashed vast grassroots, anti-violence work on college campuses and in communities – visionary work that has been survivor-led and focused, all the while revealing the power of art and activism to change culture and systems. Founded by V, activist and author of the The Vagina Monologues, V-Day has inspired women, men and communities all over the world and raised collective consciousness about how violence and gender intersect. The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works curated by V-Day have been performed across the world by local activists, survivors and artists, raising over $120 million dollars for grassroots anti-violence groups, rape crisis centers, domestic violence shelters, and safe houses, shattering taboos and changing the way activists make change in their communities. V-Day’s campaigns include the City of Joy, a revolutionary center for women survivors of gender violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has graduated over 1800 women leaders; One Billion Rising, the largest mass action to demand an end to violence against women in history; and now Voices.