Femme Fest honouring Ottawa creatives and entrepreneurs on International Women’s Day

A special market marking International Women’s Day went ahead in Ottawa on Sunday. CTV’s Camille Wilson reports.

Femme Fest was held in Ottawa Sunday to celebrate the power, potential and creativity of women in the community on International Women’s Day.

“It’s so important to showcase our ingenuity, our ambition, our creativity and just empower women in our communities,” said Aida Hodkinson, co-founder of Next Door Market & Event Space.

“It’s International Women’s Day. This is what I wanted to do,” said shopper Loretta Polson.

Hosted by Next Door Ottawa, an open market space on Gladstone Avenue, Femme Fest brought together artisans, entrepreneurs and changemakers committed to advancing gender equality. Entry was by donation to the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Ottawa.

“It’s so important to showcase our ingenuity, our ambition, our creativity and just empower women in our communities,” said Aida Hodkinson, co-founder of Next Door Market & Event Space.

“It’s International Women’s Day. This is what I wanted to do,” says Loretta Polson, shopper.

Hosted by Next Door Ottawa, Femme Fest supporting and bringing together artisans, entrepreneurs and changemakers that are committed to advancing gender equality.

More than 20 vendors of femmes & thems were on hand, along with an art exhibition, live music and a kid’s craft table.

“A wonderful community connecting with women and non-binary folks who are showcasing their wares and their talent and their creativity. It’s an empowering space for everyone to just come together, learn something and connect,” said Hodkinson.

Sisters Melanie and Lexie Ghantous, founders of Grace & Charm, making custom charm jewelry, brooches and bag accessories, said they believe in pushing for diversity and inclusivity.

“Women do face a lot of challenges starting businesses. I think it’s important to get out there to support local but also support women,” said Melanie.

“At a time where the world needs to come together, women need to come together and support each other and support women-owned businesses as well,” said Lexie.

Melanie says it’s important to bring all of these women-led businesses together, not just by being a vendor, but to join in community with the other women.

“It’s good to support one another and to make an effort to create a community when others are trying to tear us down or try and minimize our voices and our impact on the culture,  which I think is so important that we stand together to show solidarity, to show support and unity when we can,” said shopper Pixie Polson.

Dawn Tshituka is the creator & founder of Chez Kwetu. She says her business is all about creating products that adorn your physical home and your body, making you feel good.

“We have the colorful home decor here. This is where I really bring my culture. I’m from Congo, Kinshasa. Back home, we use fabric to make clothes for our body, to dress the physical flesh. So, I said, why not extend the use of it to the home? Because I also consider my home to be my body,” said Tshituka.

Tshituka creates accessories, mugs, tumblers, scrunchies and notebooks.

“When it comes to dressing my home, my body, I go for colorful, cozy and comfy because that’s what I like. I don’t just put any design on it. They are intentional designs. They are positive message,” she said.

Tshituka says women-led businesses need to be supported, encouraged and uplifted.

“I’ve never been so proud or so excited about anything as it is of me being a woman. It’s one thing that I hold so preciously and so dear,” says Tshituka, “just knowing that I’m a woman and knowing how much a woman can do. I just love being a woman. I think it’s amazing. The fact that we get to celebrate this every year, it’s just groundbreaking. It’s amazing. We should be doing this every day, not just on March 8th.”

Organizers say it’s important to continue to have conversations about women’s contributions to society and culture.

The event also held a panel discussion on sexualized violence in art.

“It’s actually a pretty heavy topic. In order to support our community, we have some volunteer psychotherapists here to offer mental health support during the panel and during the art exhibit. We thought this was really important as a way for community care to discuss these topics,” said Hodkinson.

Artist and researcher Erin Galt, thesis and doctoral project is on visualizing rape and  the contemporary art history and practice on the topic of sexualized violence in Canada and the United States.

“I’m also creating original artworks that respond to my research. A huge part of that gap is that we do not have art being made by survivors of rape and for survivors of rape,” said Galt.

Galt says it’s really important to her to get the artistic component out in the world. “Unfortunately, sexualized violence is always a timely issue,” she said.

“We’re trying to celebrate the femmes and the thems who have unfortunately been disproportionately targeted with sexualized violence. We’re just being in community, making sure this topic isn’t silenced, isn’t stigmatized, and hopefully perpetuating more conversations to happen.”

Galt says International Women’s Day is a day to recognize all the hard work women have put in for ages.

“When we think about the rights that women have fought for over the last 50 years alone, it might feel like a challenge, like we’re not moving forward, but I love to remind people that in the last 50 years, we have made momentous change,” Galt said.

“I think sexualized violence is unfortunately one of those things that’s going to be a persistent tenant of what we fight against in our fight for our rights. It’s extra important that even as we celebrate all the work we’ve done, we have conversations about the work we need to continue doing.”

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