A Drama Professor from Queen Mary University of London has won the ‘Fighting the Good Fight’ award at WOW Women in Creative Industries Awards at the Southbank Centre. The winners were announced on Wednesday 7 March 2018.
Professor Lois Weaver won the Fighting the Good Fight category. This award is in recognition of a woman who has demonstrated great tenacity and on-going commitment to excellence within the creative industries. Her win is ‘recognition of four decades of commitment to work engaging the widest possible public in feminism and human rights through performance’.
Professor Weaver said: “I think that if and when you are truly ‘fighting the good fight’ you’re not thinking about recognition. So this nomination comes as a great surprise and delight. I am thrilled to be in such good company.”
Professor Weaver is a performance artist, writer, director, and activist. Her research interests include live art, solo performance, feminist and lesbian theatre, ageing, performance and human rights and the relationships between performance and public engagement.
One of the primary goals of her work has been to try and make the invisible visible -to highlight the lives, stories and struggles of those she believes are overlooked or underplayed - women, lesbians, working class folk and elders.
Set up in 2016 by Jude Kelly CBE, the WOW Women in Creative Industries Awards recognise significant achievements made by women in the arts, tech, music, film, games, media, fashion and advertising, and celebrate the women and men progressing equality in the arts and creative industries. They were the first ever cross-sector awards to honour women and genderqueer and non-binary people, who are leading the way in the creative industries.
Founder, Jude Kelly CBE said: “I created these awards to help us reflect not only on the brilliance of female artists and creatives, but also on the risks individual women have taken to push their sectors towards equality. I hope that by holding these incredible people up and celebrating their achievements, we can inspire those who are in the industry both now and in the future to make it a more representative one.”
The inaugural awards are part of Southbank Centre’s week long 6th WOW‐ Women of the World festival. The winners were announced at a ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, on Wednesday 7 March 2018 as part of the Women in Creative Industries Day.
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