Pepi Nikolopoulou
Find out more about this year’s programme of the International Festival for Women, Femininity and Non-Binary People
There are festivals that entertain, others that educate and then there are those that uniquely manage to inspire, unite and change mindsets. The WOW Festival falls squarely into this category.
It all began in London in 2010, when Jude Kelly, then artistic director of the Southbank Centre, envisioned a festival that would celebrate women and girls. Her aim was to open up an honest dialogue about the barriers that prevent them from reaching their full potential, while giving them a space to share their experiences and ideas. Since that first event, the WOW Festival has travelled to six continents and more than 45 locations, from Australia to Nigeria and from Finland to Pakistan, reaching over five million people.
Whenever I hear about the festival’s journey and how it has hosted celebrities such as Angela Davis, Malala Yousafzai and Annie Lennox, I think that its power is not just in the big names who take to the stage. It lies in the thousands of women and girls who are not famous, but who are making a difference through their own everyday lives. And that’s how this global community came to Greece, bringing with it the same promise: that everyone’s voice deserves to be heard.
Today, with more than 100 festivals on six continents and an audience of over five million people, WOW has travelled to cities from Nepal to Brazil, Finland to Nigeria, providing a platform for women of all ages and backgrounds. And so, three years ago, WOW arrived in Athens, offering a place of meeting, dialogue and inspiration for those who believe in equality.
From 4 to 7 April 2025, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC), in partnership with the WOW Foundation and the British Council, will present the third annual WOW – Women of the World Festival, the world’s largest event for women, females and non-binary people.
“Gender equality is a prerequisite for a prosperous, thriving and sustainable society. Without equal opportunities for everyone, discussions and plans for progress and development are incomplete, if not unrealistic. By organising WOW Athens, we are creating a platform for the vital discussions that our society needs and that can contribute to change,” said Elli Andriopoulou, Executive Director of the SNFCC, in her opening speech.
Last year’s event attracted 6,665 participants, almost double the number of the previous year, 880 students from schools across Greece and 88 speakers, bringing together many different communities and highlighting issues such as violence against women, a theme that will be repeated this year, but also approaching new aspects and new themes, such as the link between gender and politics and the impact of climate change on women’s lives.
“It’s not a symposium, it’s not a conference, as I used to say. The WOW Festival is a celebration, it’s about things you wouldn’t expect to hear about,” says Jude Kelly enthusiastically after watching the closing video from last year’s event. “You see people crying tears of excitement, emotion and appreciation. Because they can talk about anything that’s on their minds without being treated like second-class citizens. All women have felt this – something that men often feel too. Living among the men in my life, I see that they too want to live happy lives, but are often confused by societal imperatives that require them to be ‘proper’ men. But what does a ‘proper’ man mean?
On the other hand, the demand for equality for women seems to have become a battlefield. Once upon a time, many women believed that they had to “catch up” with men. And yet there have been many men who have paved the way with freedom and respect. What we didn’t realise is that it’s not about women catching up with men. The real need is for change and the search for a new, shared balance,” she continues.
Rich and multi-dimensional – this year’s WOW Athens programme
This year’s WOW Athens program includes speeches by iconic personalities and bold voices, such as “Bad Feminist” Roxane Gay, award-winning American writer Carmen Maria Machado, and producer of the feminist series The Principles of Pleasure Thalia Mavros.
The festival’s film screening program proposes two films that help open the debate on gender identity and social change: Orlando, My Political Biography, by pioneer queer philosopher Paul B. Preciado, based on Virginia Woolf’s classic novel; and the documentary RBG, which captures the life journey of jurist Ruth Bader Ginsburg from young law student to symbol of justice.
Music has always been an integral part of the festival, and the concert of Arooj Aftab, the first Pakistani artist to win a Grammy Award, stands out in this year’s program, combining the Persian tradition with jazz and electronic music elements.
From the SNFCC Lobby and the National Library of Greece to the Esplanade and the Perimeter of Stavros Niarchos Park, the exhibitions of WOW Athens invite the public to participate in a discourse that goes beyond the boundaries of a conventional exhibition space. The geometric sculptures of German artist Claudia Wieser transform the public space; the photographs of Marilena Grispou explore the concepts of women’s mental, emotional and physical safety; and the works of Georgia Lale pay tribute to a growing number of femicide victims.
This year’s festival program is complemented by numerous panel discussions on critical social issues, workshops, mentoring sessions, DJ sets, concerts, and the WOW Marketplace, a vibrant space of women’s entrepreneurship and activism.
Below you may find the festival’s detailed program, as it has developed so far:
Key-note Speakers
Roxane Gay | Sunday, April 6, 12.00, Stavros Niarchos Hall
A literary phenomenon, an uncompromising intellectual, a committed activist. Roxane Gay is one of the most powerful and crystalline voices of our time, a woman who doesn’t hesitate to make waves and redefine contemporary culture.
With unsurpassed insight and uncompromising honesty, she maps the dynamics of gender, body and social justice, deconstructing prejudices and paving the way for a fairer world. Her pen is sharp as a blade, but at the same time deeply human. With works like Bad Feminist, which became a symbol of modern-day feminism, and Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body, a heartbreaking self-reflection on body and self-image, she manages to talk about personal experience in a way that makes it a collective one.
But Gay is not only a writer; she is a phenomenon. From her best-selling literary work to her collaboration with Marvel on World of Wakanda, she breaks down every stereotype. At the same time, her voice resonates far and wide thanks to her podcast “The Roxane Gay Agenda” and her appearances in film and television productions.
Carmen Maria Machado | Monday, April 7, 19.30, Lighthouse
One of the most daring, groundbreaking voices in contemporary literature, best known for the way she upends narrative forms and explores the limits of fantasy, feminist horror, and the queer experience.
With her subversive memoir In the Dream House, she rewrites the rules of autobiography, while her short story collection Her Body and Other Parties shatters the boundaries between the realistic and the bizarre, exploring desire, violence and women’s experiences in a breathtaking way.
Her work is a point of reference for contemporary literature. She has been a finalist of the annual U.S. National Book Awards, and has received numerous awards, including the Bard Fiction Prize, the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Fiction & LGBTQ Nonfiction, the Brooklyn Public Library Literature Prize, the Shirley Jackson Award, and the John Leonard Prize of the National Book Critics Circle. In 2018, The New York Times described Her Body and Other Parties as one of the 15 books written by women that redefine 21st-century literature.
Her script is unpretentious, raw and deeply emotional. Her essays, short stories and book reviews have been featured in leading publications, such as The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, as well as in anthologies such as The Best American Science Fiction & Fantasy.
Thalia Mavros | Saturday, April 5, 16.00, Lighthouse
Thalia Mavros is an award-winning producer, filmmaker and entrepreneur who founded the digital media platform The FRONT, a creative hub for documentary television and film content focused on women and on bringing underrepresented people, stories and perspectives to the forefront.
Her latest works include the Emmy-nominated groundbreaking series about sex, Principles of Pleasure, available in Greece on Netflix; the series that exposed an epidemic of widespread grooming in U.S. high schools, Keep This Between Us; as well as the SXSW award-winning Consensus Gentium.
Prior to founding The FRONT, Mavros served as the first executive creative director of Vice Media, launching some of the company’s most innovative projects. Last but not least, she is co-founder of Bilili Media Lab, a non-profit organization launched this year in Ghana with the aim of empowering women and underrepresented voices in Africa through filmmaking and their technical training, bridging the art of storytelling with the creation of opportunities.
Concerts
Arooj Aftab | Monday, April 7, 21.00, Stavros Niarchos Hall
“The coolest rock star in the world right now” is what the leading British music magazine UNCUT calls her. Arooj Aftab combines traditional music forms from South Asia with elements of jazz, electronic music and minimalist aesthetics, resulting in the creation of a soundscape that challenges musical conventions and captivates audiences. Her works draw inspiration from Ghazal (traditional love songs in Farsi) and Eastern poetry, and act as a bridge between cultures and emotions, unexpectedly connecting the past with the present.
In 2024, she released her fourth solo album, Night Reign (Verve), won a Grammy nomination in the Best Alternative Jazz Album category, and her song “Raat Ki Rani” was nominated in the Best Global Music Performance category. Night Reign is a sequel to her iconic Vulture Prince, her 2021 album that earned her a Grammy nomination in the Best New Artist category, an award for the song “Mohabbat,” and worldwide recognition as the first Pakistani artist to win a Grammy.
Aftab has participated in leading international festivals, including Primavera, Glastonbury, Coachella, and Montreal Jazz, where her performances have been described as “ecstatic”. Her “case” has attracted the interest of international press, with articles and interviews published in The New York Times, The Guardian, and other media.
Idra Kayne – All Feminine Music Set | Saturday, April 5, 21.00, Agora
Idra Kayne, one of the most charismatic and dynamic performers of the domestic music scene, is presenting, in the context of WOW Athens 2025, the All Feminine Music Set, a concert dedicated to women’s creativity. Packed with rhythm and emotion, the program will showcase emblematic songs by female voices that have left their mark—from Donna Summer and Beyoncé, to Aretha Franklin and Dua Lipa—highlighting the importance of artistic expression as a means of social change.
Discussions
Nikita Gill | Sunday, April 6, 14.30, Book Castle
Nikita Gill is a multifaceted creator—poet, writer, actress, illustrator—who has left an indelible mark on contemporary literature. Hailing from Ireland and India and based in South England, Gill draws inspiration from diverse cultural traditions, knitting them together into a unified narrative filled with imagination, power and emotional honesty.
She has published seven poetry collections, including Wild Embers, Fierce Fairytales, Great Goddesses, and These are the Words, redefining women’s place in stories and myths. Her work is characterized by a deep understanding of the human experience, offering hope, empowerment and a safe haven to those who seek meaning through words.
Her literary influence extends beyond poetry. As a curator of the anthology SLAM! and author of novels in verse, such as The Girl and Goddess and The Angel of Redemption, Gill continues to explore new narrative forms. Her audiobook for children, Animal Tales from India, was highly acclaimed, while her upcoming work, Hekate, to be released fall 2025, marks the beginning of a new trilogy about the goddesses of the Underworld of Greek mythology.
Her work has been distinguished with nominations for the Carnegie Medal, CLiPPA award and Jhalak Prize, attesting to its literary value. Through her writing, Nikita Gill gives voice to narratives that often stay on the sidelines, highlighting women’s power, resilience, and need for a reinterpretation of traditions.
In cooperation with the British Council.
Screenings
Orlando, My Political Biography By Paul B. Preciado | Saturday, April 5, 20.00, Lighthouse
A hymn to the fluidity of gender identity and the freedom of being.
Orlando, My Political Biography is a groundbreaking and deeply personal cinematic experience, based on Virginia Woolf’s novel, Orlando. Paul B. Preciado, one of today’s foremost thinkers in contemporary queer theory, brings this timeless work into social and political discourse with the modern era.
For the purposes of the film, Preciado invites 26 transgender and nonbinary individuals, aged 8 to 70, to embody the spirit of Orlando, exploring the concepts of gender, identity, and politics. Through personal narrations, theatricality, and documentary elements, the film redefines what it means to be Orlando in the present day, highlighting the radical power of self-expression and resilience.
Orlando, My Political Biography is not merely a cinematic adaptation of Woolf’s work. It is a call for action and reflection. With incisive insight and deep sensitivity, Preciado invites us to examine our relationship with nature, history, and society, in a work that shatters the boundaries between cinema and politics, delving into the ongoing transformations of gender identity and sexuality in a world that is constantly reinventing itself.
RBG By Betsy West and Julie Cohen | Sunday, April 6, 20.00, Lighthouse
A co-production of Storyville Films and CNN Films.
A documentary that reminds us of the importance of determination, resilience, and the pursuit of a fairer world.
RBG is a riveting 2018 documentary that captures the life and legacy of 85-year-old (at the time) Ruth Bader Ginsburg, one of the most iconic female justices of the United States Supreme Court. Directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen explore Ginsburg’s journey from young law student—who faced the sexism of her time—to tireless advocate of gender equality and civil rights.
Through interviews with Ginsburg herself, as well as with members of her family, colleagues and friends, the documentary focuses on her personality and work, while also examining her cultural impact and her transformation into a symbol of justice and strength, with the younger generation dubbing her “Notorious RBG” and millennials extoling her on social media.
Combining archival footage with personal accounts, the documentary underscores Ginsburg’s dedication to justice, her landmark legal victories, and her determination to improve the lives of millions. RBG is not simply a chronicle of her life; it also serves as an inspiration for future generations, emphasizing the profound effect one individual’s actions can have on society as a whole.
Exhibitions
Claudia Wieser: Surroundings | April 3 – September 28, 2025, Esplanade
The Berlin-based visual artist Claudia Wieser is challenging the fundamental principles of art and design with the commanding geometry of her works. Her sculptural installations create impactful environments, spaces for immersive exploration. In the exhibition “Surroundings,” featuring works that were specially created to be presented at the SNFCC’s Esplanade, Wieser’s geometric sculptures draw inspiration from Modernism and examine the point of intersection of art and utilitarian objects, of aesthetics and functionality; the point where art, yet again, meets the public space.
The core of the exhibition is a meticulously designed outdoor stage, lined with more than 1,800 ceramic tiles that have been carefully hand-painted by the artist in her Berlin studio. Wieser, who trained as a painter, leaves traces of her brushstrokes on each one of these vibrantly-colored tiles. The large-scale sculpture serves both as a performance stage and as a public meeting point, prompting visitors to slow down their pace and become consciously aware of their surroundings. It is an invitation to all to be present in the moment. This geometric structure, furnished with a large-scale seating space, encourages respite, as well as the exchange of ideas, drawing inspiration from the rich history of art and design—from the democratic spaces of ancient Roman Forums and ancient Greek theaters, to the principles of Bauhaus architecture.
Scattered throughout the Esplanade are vertical metal structures that form an atmospheric astral formation among the trees. Each of these structures hosts brilliantly-colored surfaces, each telling a different story through the fragmentation of the image: photographs of bodies taken by Wieser herself, reproductions of ancient sculptures, landscapes, painterly surfaces and geometric forms, combined with hand-painted ceramic tiles. Seamlessly woven together, these motley elements form original assemblages venturing to capture the pulse and dynamism of human existence.
Curator: Katerina Stathopoulou
With the support of Goethe-Institut Athen.
Georgia Lale: Lola Speak! | April 4–7, 2025, SNFCC and NLG Lobby
The exhibition “Lola Speak!” commemorates victims of femicide in Greece and internationally, and challenges the victim blaming culture. Women all around the world are fighting for their right to make decisions for their own bodies, for equality in the workplace, for safety and happiness. The works on display were created on bedsheets donated by women who live in Greece, provided that they have used them to rest on them and dream of a safe world. The exhibition draws references from the 1955 Alphavitarion [Abecedarium], illustrated by Kostas Grammatopoulos, recomposing the language and symbols of a children’s book to tell a story of resistance and hope.
Performance: Birthday
The performance Birthday will be presented by Georgia Lale on Saturday, April 5. On the occasion of her birthday, the artist invites the audience to donate bedsheets and participate in a series of group games for children and adults.
Marilena Grispou: SAFE SPACE | April 3 – June 29, 2025, Stavros Niarchos Park Perimeter
Through a series of 50 photographs, Marilena Grispou’s exhibition “SAFE SPACE” explores, in the most astute way, the key concepts of women’s mental, emotional and physical safety in our time. Based on her personal experience of losing her “safe space,” Grispou’s photography captures the search and renegotiation of this feeling through 25 portraits or women that reflect their relationship to both their inner and outer world. This photographic project calls upon the public to contemplate their own relationship with safety and the factors that may threaten or reinforce it: What is the definition of safety? What experiences deprive us of it? And how can we reclaim it? The exhibition “SAFE SPACE” urges us to wonder, ponder and act towards ensuring a physical or mental space, in which people feel protected, free and strong.
Speeches and Panel Discussions
During the festival, key issues will be highlighted in a series of panel discussions featuring prominent women speakers from Greece and abroad. Indicatively, some of the topics to be discussed include:
- Domestic violence and legislation in Greece
- Political gender gap and femonationalism
- Digital activism
- Women and safety in the city
- Intersectionality in feminism
- Women of the countryside
- Everyday sexism in the workplace
- Climate change and ecofeminism
- Motherhood and feminism
- Ignorance and shame in school education
- Sex work and legislation
- Gender fatigue
- Art and adolescence
- The democratization of art
- The patriarchy behind psychotherapy
- Women’s pain and the double standard in health care
- The definition of “gender-based” violence
- Why is feminism good for men?
- Women’s entrepreneurship
- Women on Boards of Directors
- Obstacles and inequalities in women’s careers
The Hope Brigade
Photography exhibition that will be held at metro stations and trains, in collaboration with Urban Rail Transport (STASY), for the second year in a row. “The Hope Brigade” is a series of photographs that was presented at the World Economic Forum and King’s Cross in London, featuring remarkable women, each of whom is an inspiring trailblazer in fields ranging from education and economics to climate justice and gender identity. This year, 10 photographs from this exhibition will be presented in Athens, along with 10 portraits of Greek women who are a source of inspiration and hope for change.
WOW Speed Mentoring sessions
Women and nonbinary people of all walks of life and various ages, at different stages of their careers, meet to inspire and support each other. Mentors come from all kinds of professional backgrounds, and this is a great opportunity to tap their know-how in order to help other women and nonbinary people overcome their challenges.
WOW Marketplace
The “heart” of the festival, at the SNFCC Agora, with free admission. A bustling open agora, featuring businesses, as well as activist and nonprofit organizations, founded and run by women or nonbinary people, who sell their products and/or provide information on important issues. Moreover, throughout the festival, the WOW Marketplace will host DJ sets, pop-up concerts, and a series of free workshops on various topics for all ages.
Schools at WOW Athens
On the morning of Monday, April 7, the Stavros Niarchos Hall will be filled with school students, for an event focusing on consent. To this end, the SNFCC has worked together with school teachers of primary and secondary education from all over Greece, in order to inspire their students to create artworks/projects, guided by art and science, with the concept of consent as their central theme. Aided by their educators, kids and teens were called upon to envision a world that rejects gender-based violence and gender stereotypes, a world where inclusion and advocacy of reproductive and sexual rights becomes a reality for all. The outcome of the aforementioned projects will be presented at the April 7 event, with the objective of developing critical thinking on issues related to consent and to respecting the boundaries of others. Students from regions beyond the Athens metropolitan area will be able to present their projects either in person or virtually.
Information about the Festival
WOW Athens 2025 | 4 – 7 April 2025 | Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre (SNFCC), Ave. 364 Sygrou Avenue, Kallithea
