To coincide with International Women’s Day an exciting new event is taking place this Saturday at Impact Hub Birmingham, organised by local photographer Alison Baskerville and her colleagues

PMT Festival celebrating womxn launches this March

PMT (Powering the Matriarchy Together) is a day-long festival which will cover themes of love, art, body and work. This is the first of its kind for Birmingham, and will be an opportunity to celebrate the rich mix of womxn* and nonbinary people who make up this city.

“This city often falls in the shadow of London during International Women’s Day and we felt it was time to launch our own event to celebrate the work and achievements of the womxn in Birmingham”, commented PMT curator Alison Baskerville (pictured 3rd from right with other organisers of the event – photo by Paul Stringer) .

This eclectic event kicks off with a special Speed Mentoring session featuring badass womxn from across the UK. From artists to scientists, visitors will get 5 minutes with a range of womxn to ask questions and share ideas in this fast and energetic information exchange. Mentors include Karen Newman, founder of Birmingham Open Media (BOM), recent #ForbesU30Europe listed social entrepreneur Anisa Haghdadi, and photographer & writer Sabiha Mahmoud.

The programme includes fun workshops, inspiring microlectures, a marketplace of PMT makers, and live demonstrations to learn how to ride a longboard, re-string your electric guitar and even change a tyre. “We want an inclusive event which is fun and will give womxn practical life skills as well as thought provoking content. It’s time for us to recognise that we can’t empower womxn alone and we need everyone to be a part of this day”, adds Baskerville.

There is no fixed price for this event, but we invite you to pay as you feel to support the work of future PMT events.

Full programme can be seen here

*Womxn is a spelling of “women” that is a more inclusive, progressive term that not only sheds light on the prejudice, discrimination, and institutional barriers womxn have faced, but to also show that womxn are not the extension of men, but their own free and separate entities. It is more intersectional than womyn as it includes trans-women and women of colour.

PMT Festival

Saturday 11th March

10am – 4pm

Impact Hub Birmingham, 58 Oxford Street, Birmingham, B5 5NY

Tickets available here