Kick off IWD and Women’s History Month @ QVWC with a month of feminist events, walks and exhibitions!
6 MARCH: IWD Rally gathering and Placard Pop-Up in collaboration with Victoria Trades Hall Council
Share the solidarity and join us for the IWD Rally. Got something to say? Put it on a placard! Placard Pop-Up station with plenty of cardboard and markers will be set up on the Ground Floor of QVWC from 4pm.
Leave from QVWC with us on Thursday 6 March at 5.15PM (IWD Rally starts at 5.30PM)
14 MARCH: Feminist History Walking Tour lead by Barbara Wheeler, QVWC’s Feminist Historian in Residence
Celebrate Women’s History Month 2025 by learning about three prominent Melbourne women activists Helen Lothan Robertson, Dr Constance Stone and Zelda D’Aprano – unionist feminists who led the way on equal pay and working conditions and the provision of professional health care for all women and children. Share stories and connections from the sites of Victorian Trades Hall Council (Victoria/Lygon Streets), the Welsh Church (La Trobe Street) and the Queen Victoria Women’s Centre (Lonsdale Street), highlighting the importance of these sites to Melbourne’s feminist history.
Friday 14 March 9.45AM – 12.30PM - Tickets $30 + booking fee. Limited spots! Book here!
Note walk commences at Victorian Trades Hall Council, 54 Victoria Street, forecourt at the statue of Zelda D’Aprano @ 9.45AM.
Accessibility information: QVWC * Victorian Trades Hall Council * Welsh Church, Ground Floor access with no steps.
FROM 3 MARCH: Changemakers: Crafting a difference presented by Her Place Museum in partnership with Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House (MoAD)
Changemakers: Crafting a Difference consists of eight textile banners representing a range of historical and contemporary activist movements. The banners were created by Australian craftivist Tal Fitzpatrick, using mostly up-cycled materials.
Changemakers is an exhibition and workshop that invites you to try your hand at craftivism. Craftivists celebrate and subvert cliched notions of needlecraft and other 'women's work' to bring attention to a range of social justice issues.
Aesthetically, these works draw on the history of textile banners as artifacts used for activism, including women’s suffrage campaigns, as well as banners displayed in town halls and churches.
Changemakers focuses on women’s empowerment and demonstrates that crafting—traditionally considered "women’s work"—can be used for political expression and social change.
Changemakers: Crafting a difference is a travelling exhibition from the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, sponsored by Commonwealth Bank as part of CommBank Next Chapter, a program helping victim survivors of financial abuse achieve long-term financial independence.
Exhibition runs 3 March until 18 April Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM
Tal Fitzpatrick Artist Talk and Banner Making Workshop 1 March 12–2.30PM - Limited spots! This event has now reached full capacity. To be added to the waiting list, please register your interest by emailing Caitlin McClare at caitlin.mcclare@herplacemuseum.com
Artist talk: 12–12:45PM : Afternoon tea: 1pm : Banner Making Workshop: 2-4:30PM
FROM 3 MARCH: Display of IWD 2025 Portraits by Suzanne Phoenix (Sponsored by Australian Femicide Watch)
Suzanne Phoenix's 2025 photographic portrait series of cis and trans women and gender diverse people responding to what IWD means to them.
Exhibition opening and book launch by invite only 3 March 6-8PM
Exhibition runs Portraits on display for public viewing from 3 March until 31 March Mon-Fri 9AM-5PM – Viewing by appointment - email jess.hutchison@qvwc.org.au