20×20 Movement Builds Momentum for Women’s Sports!
5th March 2020
As part of the 20×20 mission, its creator, Along Came A Spider, has joined forces with artists’ collective, Subset, to promote the movement through an artistic contribution to the 20×20 message, which aims to make women’s sport part of our cultural DNA in the way that men’s sport currently is. The artwork, unveiled at Camden Row in Dublin today (5thMarch), portrays Victoria, the Roman Goddess of Victory, whose name is derived from the Latin ‘vincere’, meaning ‘to conquer’ or ‘to win’.
The Romans were fanatical about sport but women were excluded from both watching and playing. This portrayal of Victoria pays tribute to the cultural shift that has taken place since a time when women and girls were completely unsupported in their sporting ventures, to today when we celebrate women’s and girls’ skills and sporting successes through the 20×20 movement.
Sarah Colgan, CEO of Along Came A Spider, commented, “We in Along Came A Spider developed the 20×20 initiative to create a movement that would shift our cultural perception of women in sport and further change the landscape of sport for future generations. We are proud that 20×20 has gained such traction with the public, Irish sport and with the media, with well-known creators such as Subset keen to collaborate with us in bringing the message to life. This artwork makes us stop and think about the cultural bias which has existed throughout history around women in sport – and the need to change it.”
The 20×20 initiative aims to champion women and girls in sport through its key message:
‘If She Can’t See It, She Can’t Be It’.
This work plays to this message, showing Victoria, historically portrayed with a palm branch, instead holding a hurley and sliotar as a modern alternative. She sports 20×20’s two signature red stripes on her cheeks – as the movement this week asks everyone to #ShowYourStripes for women in sport in the lead up to International Women’s Day by pledging to attend more, play more, or promote more women’s sport, as people post their pledges on social media.
Heather Thornton Creative Director, at Along Came A Spider, added, “Different things get people out of bed in the morning; the founding principle of Along Came A Spider was to create work that can challenge the status quo and deliver positive change. As a core team of experienced communicators and persuaders, we want to apply our skills to create ideas with purpose and to deliver an impact we can feel proud of.”
The 20×20 (20% by 2020) initiative seeks to change the subliminal bias in the Irish psyche that exists around girls and boys, or women and men, when it comes to sport. The core aim is to call on the people of Ireland to get behind women’s sport in a concerted effort to increase media coverage, boost attendance and ultimately grow involvement in female sport and physical activity – all by 20% by the end of 2020.
The 20×20 concept was originated and developed by Along Came A Spider. Along Came A Spider is a Dublin-based creative agency that combines advertising, entertainment and sponsorship expertise to be the first Irish agency working to create social and cultural change.
