WO|MANIFESTO

Peachy 'n' Keen started as a blog in 2013 by Rhiannon Adams and Eleni Mettyear, who, after meeting at art school, decided to create a space where they could showcase the work of female artists in a male-dominated industry. From then on the girl gang only grew; evolving into an art collective that put on exhibitions traversing the country, showcasing artists, photographers, writers and women all over the world who had something to show. The exhibitions ranged in their themes: our Brighton show showcased young female talent; in Bristol we collaborated with Unveil’d for a ‘Ladies & Gentlemen’ exhibition; and in London we had two shows that explored the idea of ‘Motherhood’ and the female form. Our most recent exhibition at Doomed Gallery in Dalston showcased our feminist pin-up calendar featuring artists from around the world. The calendar was funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign. Each of our exhibitions have attracted over 200 visitors each, resulting in international press coverage. The girls decided to take a small hiatus in 2015 to focus on other things. Rhiannon studied for a year at Berkeley in California whilst Eleni took an artist residency in Spain. This year was crucial to the relaunch: we want Peachy to incite discussion and debate, negotiate difficult political lines, and give a platform to some of the most important things that are going on throughout the world. To do this, Peachy will now act as a stage to tackle gender inequality not just following trends. Although Peachy ‘n’ Keen started as a platform to embolden female artists, it is now much more than that. Peachy ‘n’ Keen is a feminist collective and we understand feminism to be inherently linked to other inequalities: it is the fight against disparity in all areas of society and the world. Our feminism is intersectional, inclusive and equal. This means we now address a plethora of social issues from an inclusive and constructive standpoint, to challenge the status quo. We aim to explore significant and poignant issues through art, photography, written word, and the impactful medium of social media. Frustrated by the conspicuous division between the male- and female-oriented sections of magazine stores, striped in their pink and blue, Peachy aims to blur this line.

P e a c h y h a s e v o l v e d . I t ' s a p l a t f o r m f o r a l l o f u s t o c o m m e n t , c o l l a b o r a t e , a n d u l t i m a t e l y c h a n g e t h e s o c i a l c o n s t r u c t s

t h a t w o r k a g a i n s t u s .