In 2024/2025, Kreative Werkstatt Dresden initiated an art project in Dresden and Chemnitz that creatively addresses the gender pay gap. In 2026, the project will take place in Leipzig and will be realized with 20 female artists from Leipzig. They will each design an “art flower” (fake banknote) depicting the likeness (portrait) of a woman. These can be women from politics and society, women’s rights activists, artists, musicians, but also women from the artist’s personal environment, heroines, etc. The originals will be shown in a traveling exhibition at various locations. This will be accompanied by campaign days on which copies of the art flowers will be given away to women.
Leipzig artists are cordially invited to apply by 25.01.26:
- Design (sketch) “Kunstblüte” with portrait of a woman
- Short bio with contact details (max. 1 A4 page)
- Justification for choice of female portrait (max 1 A page)
- by 25.01.26 as PDF by e-mail to:
Good to know: One part of the project is the exhibition of the original artificial flowers. The exhibition will travel to various exhibition venues in Leipzig. Reproductions of the art blossoms will be made. On campaign days, these reproductions will be given away to women with a bonus by cooperating Chemnitz institutions. The action days form the participatory part of the artistic project.
The artists will be informed of the jury’s decision by Kreative Werkstatt Dresden e.V.. The decision on the selected works is the responsibility of the jury and does not have to be justified. A fee will be paid for the realization of the selected art blossoms.
Who we are and what we do? “Women make pressure – art blossoms” in Dresden/Chemnitz
In 2024, the “Kreative Werkstatt Dresden e.V.” initiated a gender equality art project in cooperation with the Dresden Women’s Projects Association to draw attention to and counteract the gender pay gap among women. The “Frauen machen Druck – Kunstblüten” project uses art to raise public awareness of the gender pay gap. This serves to highlight gender-related disadvantages for women in working life. In a creative way, the project helps to find possible solutions and to consolidate fair wages.
To realize this, 20 female artists from Dresden were invited to take part in the exhibition “Frauen machen Druck – Kunstblüten”. The exhibition traveled to various locations over the course of the year. In addition, campaign days were organized and reproductions of the artworks were given away to all interested women. The art blossoms could be redeemed as a symbolic means of exchange in conjunction with a bonus at cooperating Dresden institutions. In 2025, the project was realized with female artists from Chemnitz in Europe’s Capital of Culture. Two films document the projects in Chemnitz and Dresden: www.youtube.com/@kreativewerkstattdresden
This measure was co-financed by tax funds on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon state parliament.
Formalities:
If accepted by the jury, each artist will design an art flower consisting of two individual works:
front + back of a banknote. Each work is a graphic, two-dimensional work measuring 15 x 30 cm, landscape format, which can be easily scanned and copied. The front shows the likeness (portrait) of a woman and a “flower value” of between €5 and €150. The value can be a real monetary value or a fantasy value. The artificial flower is not intended to imitate a banknote, but to be a free artistic design.
There will be a catalog documenting the art blossoms from Dresden, Chemnitz and Leipzig.
The artists themselves are responsible for their selection of the female portrait as well as for the coordination of all resulting copyright and usage rights issues. Kreative Werkstatt Dresden e.V. reserves the right not to accept individual works if it becomes apparent that the content shown violates human rights or democratic principles.
The personal data submitted with the application as well as the submissions of the artistic designs will be treated in accordance with the provisions of the GDPR and in the sense of copyright law and processed exclusively for the purpose of participation in the artistic equality project “Frauen machen Druck – Kunstblüten”. After withdrawal from the application process, the data of the artists concerned will be irrevocably deleted.
Application deadline: January 25, 2026