On the 18th of February 2019 Evelyn had the honour of speaking for Edeline Lee at the British Fashion Council Showspace, London. Edeline’s Autumn/Winter 2019 collection was inspired by Professor Mary Beard’s feminist manifesto ‘Women in Power’, prompting Edeline to design for the “Future Lady”. Her designs have been worn by public figures such as Taylor Swift, Alicia Vikander and Olivia Colman to name a few. Evelyn was one of 34 female orators invited to represent what femininity, dignity and power looked like on a woman in a contemporary world. All orators were from a diverse range of backgrounds and operating in different industries. It was an empowering moment when all orators came together in one room to discuss the relationship between Women & Power, exploring the current cultural assumptions.
The two hour event concluded with Evelyn’s voice. She conveyed the following message based on listening:
“Life begins and ends with listening and we all have the opportunity to create ‘listening bridges’.
In my first percussion lesson at the age of 12 my teacher focused on my sound story as a farmer’s daughter. He asked me to create the FEEL of a tractor, not the SOUND of a tractor. This approach meant I could immediately deal with interpretation – FEEL = INTERPRETATION rather than rules and systems which equal translation.. Feel will always be related to a story and in my case a sound story.
My teacher was encouraging me to look inside of me to create sound as opposed to him feeding rules to me. Therefore, he encouraged the idea of ‘inside out’ (internal to external) as opposed to ‘outside in’ (external to internal).
With the above in mind I could use my whole body as a resonating chamber, like a huge ear, which meant a immersing more wholly in the activity of listening.
This lead to respect as regards to every person I engage with, every piece of music I play and every instrument I play – 100% focus.
What glues us all, our world, our story, our curiosity, is the willingness to participate in the art of listening”.
Feel free to share your thoughts with us.
Orators for Autumn Winter 2019 included:
Professor Dame Mary Beard, Hilary Alexander, Reverend Dr. Christina Beardsley, Laurence Benaim, Baroness Jane Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Shahira Fahmy, Francesca Findlater, Professor Dame Amanda Gay Fisher, Pauline Flowler, Professor Dame Jane Francis, Lynn Franks OBE, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Gaylene Gould, Sally Gunnell, Professor Dame Wendy HalL DBE, Dr. Priyanka Joshi, Dr. Suzy Lishman, Isabella Macpherson, Carmel McConnell, Dame Helena Morrissey, Beatrix Ong, Emily Orton, Jacqueline Perry, Professor Anne Marie, Jane Rapely, Patricia Rozario, Grace Savage, Brita Schmidt, Anne Sebba, Tammy Smulders, Clarissa Ward, Dr. Marta Weiss, Alison Wenham and Dr. Zoe Whitley.