NYK—mag 0425
06. Female Force Festival: Reclaiming Art, Rebuilding Lives
Illustration and Photography: Milagros Mansilla and Renata Sanz
Female Force Festival
is a women-led music festival which started as the Female Force Forum in 2023, when a group of Spanish-speaking artists living in Aarhus, Denmark, met to discuss and come up with ideas to continue our practice in the context of migration and readjusting to a new city and country. Through continuous work in what became an annual Forum, FFF members educated ourselves in local processes and procedures, cultural networking, and day-to-day details crucial to set creative and professional expectations. This collective learning process has helped a growing group (of mostly women and non-binary artists) to gain confidence in navigating a path that includes understanding applications, funding opportunities, and making allies. We have created a collective support network along the way to develop several projects, including the upcoming self-produced music festival: a real test of our collective strength and growth.
FFF emphasizes the first female "we can do it" attitude: we know how, and done with applying, explaining, and waiting, we decided to build a community and space to be reborn as artists in our new homes. We work to share and express our unique perspectives, all the diversity and beauty of vibrant traditions, and our human, unwavering determination to create. We also root our work in the conviction of strengthening solidarity ties to assist fellow artists who share our concerns and challenges. It has been a journey filled with questions, unexpected encounters, sharing of words, music, food, and hope.
The FFF community is a place where stories of rebirth unfold. It's where artists can find the encouragement and resources to revive their artistic careers. FFF is a reminder that talent doesn't diminish with displacement: being freely who you are, and doing what makes you happy, makes every place your home.
For migrant artists, leaving home is often a double journey: one across borders, and one away from their art. At FFF, artistic talent transcends geography and displacement. It's a celebration of resilience, a testament to the enduring power of creativity in the face of adversity. New environments and people around us transform our practice. This is why we not only become a safe space to track and solve issues, but also a place to bring up new ideas, remain curious, and ignite creativity in our daily lives.
We remember the artists we were, and we work for the artists we can be. Migrant artists bring a wealth of knowledge and experience but often struggle to find an immediate source of income in a new city and country. We have had to take in unrelated and unskilled jobs to sustain ourselves, which has especially affected all marginalized genders. FFF offers a space to nurture and honor those never-lost skills and never-forgotten passions, while providing an opportunity to rediscover and grow our practice.
Female Force Festival goes live at Turkis (Aarhus) on November 21 and 22. Our line-up and production team is formed entirely by women and non-binary artists, and we invite you to pair the reading of these words with a playlist that brings together the sounds of our inspiration, and a music selection of the wonderful artists who will join us for two days in a late autumn weekend in Denmark.
Get you ticket here: festival tickets