All About Women 2020

Overview

Held around International Women's Day since 2013, Sydney Opera House's All About Women festival does what many other talk-heavy events historically haven't. Across a huge lineup of speakers, it pushes ladies to the front and puts them on stage to chat about their fields of expertise and their experiences, as well as a broad range of topics that are relevant to women. Now well and truly part of Sydney's annual cultural calendar, the event is returning in 2020 to do what it does best — with an impressive new range of female voices on the program.

Taking place on International Women's Day itself — Sunday, March 8, 2020 — AAW 2020 is honing its focus on the post-#MeToo era. Yes, that's a still a rather sizeable realm, and the fest's range of topics is similarly broad. Across one jam-packed day, you can hear discussions about everything from body positivity to sexual assault, plus astrophysics, neuroscience, social justice and sobriety, too.

While many of the festival's events have already sold out, there are still plenty of talks, performances and freebies to add to your schedule. You could hear from comedian and writer Lindy West, author and commentator Clementine Ford and multidisciplinary performer Flex Mami on Finding Your Voice; unearth the pioneering women who've made vital contributions to astrophysics with Princeton University professor Jo Dunkley; and explore the subversive art of Ukraine-born, Melbourne-based artist Stanislava Pinchuk (AKA Miso).

Lindy West, shot by Jenny Jimenez.

Attendees can also see Betty Grumble, Megana Holiday, Iya Ya Ya and Stelly G completely disregard the sexist notion that women are meant to be well-behaved in The Working Bitches — and get interactive at digital exhibition My Mother's Kitchen, which asks eight LGBTQIA+ individuals to share their childhood kitchen stories.

This year, the festival has added All About Women in Film to its program, which will be diving into feminist cinema on Saturday, March 7. The day before the main event, you can catch a screening of 80s Aussie pop rock musical Starstruck followed by a chat with director Gillian Armstrong, or revisit the famed road trip flick Thelma & Louise, complete with a panel discussion with Judith Lucy, Sarinah Masukor and Michelle Law.

Image: Prudence Upton.