[Sponsored Article] Would you reply, if you received someone’s suicide note? Dozens gave the answer “yes” and took the time to write back to artist Heiward Mak, who explored a form of human connection in “a room of her own” exhibition. “Every morning is a new beginning.” Wrote one of the nearly sixty hand-written reply letters, folded into a circle, while some made paper planes, waiting to be unfolded by Mak. At another corner of the room, visitors were led to lie down on a pink rug and to look at themselves in the mirrors on the ceiling. Artist Canaan Fong recalled catching sight of her own reflection once from the TV screen while she was lying on the couch and watching Netflix. She saw a woman “flashing her fat belly, double chin, picking nose and snacking”. This encounter prompted Fong to create in her drawing the character Gigi Fong, a fleshy yet confident woman to share and alleviate one’s anxiety of her own body image. Writer Chio Hio Tong brought a bit of nature into the room, with her depiction of birds. She shared how she found peace and inspirations from bird-watching. The pioneer feminist writer Virginia Woolf, once summed up in her essay that “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction”. Renaissance Foundation collaborated with StoryTeller to put up an exhibition borrowing the notion from Woolf, taking visitors to a room of images, music and literature of women creators, as part of Interflow x Renaissance Gurl Festival 2021 from August 14 to September 28. With the aim to pay tribute to women’s labour in culture, Gurl Festival features works of thirteen Hong Kong women artists, from filmmakers, indie musicians, writers to visual creators. Their creations answer some of the enduring questions in daily life, which are both healing and powerful, with unique perspectives. In addition to the art exhibition, the Festival organizes movie screening, post-screening talks, concerts and other culture events. Gurl Festival was organized by Renaissance Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization founded in 2012 and based in Hong Kong, which is dedicated to nurturing upcoming generations of young creative talent. The strategic partner, Interflow Foundation, founded in 2021, donates to and partners with non-profit organizations to advance social and environmental causes. Interflow Foundation kindly introduced Wallaby Capital HK, who sponsored the Festival. The World Through Her Eyes : Film Screening & Post-Screening Discussion In the world of film, Gurls’ works form a gentle yet firm and wide spectrum. Gurl Festival selects eleven films that seek to enrich our understanding of nine Hong Kong women directors across generations, who have won local and international awards. They include Tang Yi, winner of Short Film Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival; Ann Hui, awarded with Lifetime Achievement by the Venice Film Festival; and, Ruby Yang who took an Oscar with her documentary work. Gurls tend to our soul and desires, explore emotions and relations, and question the system and institutions that trap the marginalized. The Blood of Yingzhou District documents the predicaments of orphans affected by AIDS. A decade later, we are reunited with four of them in The Blood of Yingzhou District Revisited . Ritoma chronicles how herders work to save themselves without access to any education in the Tibet Plateau. Black Goat explores the taboo topic of menstruation, while The Way We Are focuses on women living on the edge of the city. In Butterfly , we delve into the journey of lesbians discovering their sexual desire and gender identity, and All the Crows in the World embark on a quirky adventure into the depths of human nature. Gurls gather the tiny forces in daily lives, which permeate through rocks in the tunnel of history. One Tree Three Lives witnesses the daily life of Hualing Nieh Engle, a major proponent of 20th century Chinese language literary arts. Fagara, 32+4, 3 Generations 3 Days are three films of different genres that take you through stories of family lives, while The Dropout of Her begs the question of love and lust of a young girl. Gurl Voice of the Times, A Concert Gurls in music. Women musicians have long been an integral part of pop culture. When we talk about Gurl Voice nowadays, we no longer limit ourselves to singing divas, nor are we obliged to take up the role of the serious feminist. Gurl Voice, today, means women musicians creating indie music inspired by our surroundings. Four women new generation music groups have been lined up in the Gurl Festival. All of them are the new voices of Hong Kong of our times. They are the all-women hipster groovy-pop band WHIZZ, and TAOTAO & flat550 bring us soothing urban R&B. CHANKA tells stories inspired by roaming in the city with her delicate voice, while Gigi Cheung sings out the unique postmodern pop. Renaissance Foundation x StoryTeller: A Room of Her Own, an Exhibition Virginia Woolf, named the pioneer feminist of the 20th century, once said, "A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." Renaissance Foundation and StoryTeller collaborate to take visitors into a room of images, music and literature of women creators, in a mixed media Gurl space situated in a Central Tong Lau , where visitors experience the making-of journey of these women creators, through objects of their daily lives in which they find comfort. The power of Gurls has become a reckoning force from pop culture to our daily lives. Gurls in Hong Kong look directly at contempt directed at women, while restructuring a new order, and we need you to join us to move against the tide. Follow the organisers for more exciting events: Renaissance Foundation Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RenaissanceFoundation Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rfhk_official/ Website: http://rfhk.org.hk/ Interflow Foundation Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InterflowFoundation Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interflowfoundation/ Website: https://www.interflowfoundation.org/