The History of IAWM
Women’s museums have evolved independently of each other, and often knew nothing about each other. It was a deliberate decision not to contend for a place in traditional museums. Museum operators were much more interested in creating their own niche in which full and exclusive attention could be dedicated to women’s culture, history, and/or art of the past and present.
Women’s museums are important for women’s education, empowerment and self-confidence. They provide awareness training, possibilities for independent actions and tools to overcome discrimination. A common discussion on women and museums has arisen in the last decade, with the establishment of the network womeninmuseum.
Today the IAWM is a strong network with over 60 member-museums worldwide that are pursuing their collective goals. An international congress is traditionally held every four years on a different continent where museums meet for exchange and support. The last conference took place in Hittisau, Austria in 2021.
Board
IAWM is led by a Board representing our member regions. Our current board members are listed below.
Click the photograph to learn more about each person.
Studies: Social Sciences, History, Pedagogy; PHD: Women’s every-day-lives and women cultures as starting point of intercultural communication – A methodical contribution for intercultural-adults-education. Since 1997 teaching and researching, community work, regional women's history, women's art, and feminist pedagogy. My professional work started with community work with migrant women and their newborn babies. From 1986 to 1989 I worked with victims of the civil war in Peru. These experiences had a deep impact on my further professional and personal life as an activist for human rights. 1989 I was a founding member of Women in One World. which runs since 2006 the Museum Women's Cultures Regional - International.
Mona studied Art History, Language studies, and Pedagogy. She currently has a PHD-project called, “Dreams about «Nylænde» Transatlantic connections among women’s rights leaders and suffragists in Norway and the USA 1880-1925”. She has worked as a curator at various museums/cultural institutions, and since 1999 at the Women’s Museum of Norway, Kvinnemuseet. Academic director at the Women’s Museum from 2013 to 2021. Mona is co-founded IAWM in 2012, and since then has been a member of IAWM’s executive board and vice chairwoman, serving as chairwoman since 2016. Photo: Bård Løken/Anno museum
I live in Tirana, Albania. My university education is literature, journalism and human rights and master’s in journalism and cultural heritage. I have been engaged in human and women's rights since 1990. I have been leading the Albanian Human Rights Group, an important human rights organization in Albania since 1996, director of the Academy of Human Rights, part-time professor at the University of Tirana teaching Media & Minority Rights. Author of two books of poetry, journalist in several Albanian and foreign media. My hobby is the collection of old objects. In 2009 I received the Women's Torch Award from Danish Government which led me to the commitment to establish MiG – The Women’s Museum in Albania in 2018.
I am a Mexican visual artist, a graduate of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), with an established national and international career. My work is part of the artistic heritage of various institutions and museums across the Americas, Europe, and Asia, including the National Museum of China. I have represented Mexico in biennials and cultural forums in countries such as China, Italy, Colombia, Argentina, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Monaco, and I have created murals in several Latin American countries. Among my recognitions are the UNAM University Merit Award, First Place in the International “Sport and Olympism” Competition (London 2012), and the Italy Prize for Art in Florence. Additionally, one of my works was acquired by Prince Albert II of Monaco. My motivation to join the Board stems from my deep interest in advancing the recognition of women’s contributions and work. I am convinced that my artistic experience and commitment to equity can support the mission of the IAWM and help build a more active, diverse, and global network. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to apply and reaffirm my commitment to contributing with dedication and vision to strengthening this valuable community.
Kyehyeong Ki is a museum director, historian, and curator. She is a former director of the National Women’s History Exhibition Hall, the first women’s history museum in South Korea. She has currently founded the Gender Museum Korea in 2020, which is a virtual museum, dedicated to developing content on the history and culture of Korean women, exhibiting collaborations with local and global women's museums, and active cooperation on global women's issues. Kyehyeong received her PhD. from the Seoul National University in 2003 and have written numerous books and articles. She has held several exhibitions on the theme of Korean women's history and the Korean women's movement. Kyehyeong's upcoming book is "The Birth of the Women's Museum around the World," which covers the various women's museums from different continents of the world that she has visited (2022, Geulhangari). She is exploring various alternatives to strengthen the networking of the Asian Women's Museum.
Stefania Pitscheider Soraperra is an Italian art historian and museologist living in Austria. She belongs to the Raetho-Romanic minority in the Dolomites. Since 2009, she is the director of the Women's Museum Hittisau. Her museum recently got the “Special commendation” at EMYA 2021 / European Museum of the Year Award as well as the Austrian Federal Museum Award 2017. She has worked at the Austrian museums Kunsthalle Wien, Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna and Shedhalle St. Pölten as well as at Luxemburg socio-cultural center Coopérations. As a founding member of the artists' group WochenKlausur she realized several artistic-sociopolitical projects in Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany as well as Japan and was invited to the Venice Biennale (Italy). She is married and has a son.
Sigrid Prader is an academically trained adult educator from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and a museum manager at the Women’s Museum in Merano, Italy. She worked as a teacher from 1977 to 2000 and has led the Women’s Museum Merano since 2005, overseeing exhibitions, project management, curatorial work, administration, and fundraising. As a co-opted board member of IAWM, she is responsible for finances. Her work emphasizes networking with cultural and women’s organizations, international cooperation, and EU projects. With decades of experience, she fosters gender equality through museums, education, and collaborative initiatives. Thanks to its many years of women-specific museum work, the Women’s Museum is firmly established and fully integrated into the panorama of local cultural institutions in the Autonomous Province of Bolzano/South Tyrol.
Dr Tijana Jakovljević Šević completed her undergraduate, master's, and doctoral studies at the Department of Ethnology and Anthropology at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, Serbia. After earning her degree, she began working at the Museum of the City of Novi Sad (Serbia) as a curator ethnologist, later advancing to senior ethnologist curator over the next ten years. She currently lives in Nuremberg, Germany. Since 2017, she has been a member of the team at the Museum Women’s Cultures Regional – International (Fürth, Germany). Since 2024, she has been assisting the board of IAWM.