Katie Blundell Artist Gallery + Studio, 331 North road, Clevedon

Not so long ago, feminism was a dirty word. Now it is back on the agenda, thanks to the gradual erosion of women’s rights worldwide. This year, I will spend my birthday marching down Queen Street (dressed in purple, green and white in honour of the suffragettes) participating in the National Women’s Day of Action for Pay Equity. Yes! There is still a gender pay gap, and while it has reduced from 16.3% in 1998, progress has slowed and we are still lagging 8.2% behind men in pay. I am both delighted and dismayed to see another wave of feminist action come around in my own lifetime just as I am proud to be one of the women depicted by Katie Blundell in her “Working Women” series. She has chosen this cast of characters from among those whom she is inspired by.

It is an admirable project to celebrate women – it is not easy being female and working in the arts. As the Guerilla Girls observed in their Advantages of Being a Woman Artist in 1988, you are usually working without the pressure of success. Here we are forty years later, seeing change in the art market, but at a glacial rate. The best response is to work as hard as you can and grab every opportunity you are offered. Look around and see who else is furrowing the field of feminism and offer them your support and encouragement. Unity is strength!

Linda Tyler (Art Historian, Associate Professor at the University of Auckland)