A LEADING FEMINIST VOICE
If you are looking for women speakers, Donna Kaz delivers keynotes addressing trauma transformation, social change via art, grassroots activism and the feminist art movement. She has written for Ms., Bitch, Bust, Role Reboot, The Dramatist, Art Journal, Women in Hollywood and is the recipient of the Venus Theatre Lifetime Achievement Award, Yoko Ono Courage Award for the Arts and the Skowhegan Medal.
WOMEN SPEAKERS – KAZ’S CURRENT KEYNOTES
PUSH/PUSHBACK – 9 Steps to make a difference with art and activism because the world has gone bananas.
In 1997 I became a member of the Guerrilla Girls; activist/feminists whose mission was to shed light on discrimination in the arts. As a theatre artist I spearheaded the Guerrilla Girl campaign to address sexism in the theatre world and in 2001 formed Guerrilla Girls On Tour, a touring theatre company which created visual works, performances and street theatre actions that focused on promoting gender parity in the arts and other issues effecting women and artists of color. On November 1, 2016, I published a memoir about my life as the Guerrilla Girl Aphra Behn entitled, UN/MASKED, Memoirs of a Guerrilla Girl On Tour. As I toured the country reading from the book someone always asked me this: What can I do? How can I effect change? Even though I had shared some of the tactics of the Guerrilla Girls in my memoir I quickly came to the conclusion that another, more detailed guide, was needed to help people deal with the craziness of the twenty-first century. People are angry, scared, sad and feel helpless. The problems of the world appear to be untenable. There is so much that needs changing, how can one person tackle it all? PUSH/PUSHBACK is a forty-five minute motivational keynote speech detailing how one person can push against the status quo. Inspired by my twenty years on the front line of feminist activism it is a humorous and enlightening journey toward becoming an effective artist and activist.
Survivor Stories in the #MeToo World: How to Harness the Power of Truth
The massive scandal involving celebrities, newsmen, artists and politicians that has shoved rape, domestic violence, molestation and sexual harassment into the spotlight. Survivors of violence, whose stories had been met with everything from hushed skepticism to bald-faced doubt just a short time ago, are now being listened to and believed. Now is a critical moment to capture the power of these voices rising and harness them to raise awareness and find solutions to stopping violence and discrimination in our world.
Act Like a Feminist Artist: a Guerrilla Girl Unmasks.
Ever wonder what it’s like to be a feminist masked avenger? Donna Kaz aka Aphra Behn, shares the story of her journey from survivor of domestic violence at the hands of a famous actor to radical activist and member of the Guerrilla Girls: feminists artists who never appear in public without wearing rubber gorilla masks and who go by the names of dead woman artists in order to shed light on sexism in the art world. As the Guerrilla Girl Aphra Behn, Kaz created comedic performance art, street theatre and visual works that addressed discrimination in the theater world and proved feminists are funny at the same time. “Act Like A Feminist Artist” discusses the posters, protests, fax blitzes, speak outs and street theatre actions of the Guerrilla Girls and includes readings from passages of Kaz’s new memoir, “UN/MASKED, Memoirs of a Guerrilla Girl On Tour.” Get the inside scoop from a woman with two personas who takes off her mask and, by merging her identities, reveals all.
