WOMAN ON ROPE :
A UNIQUE ARTISTIC PERFORMANCE BY GUILA CLARA KESSOUS FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS
Through a symbolic ascent along a rope, UNESCO Artist for Peace Guila Clara Kessous revisits the major advances — and setbacks — in the history of women’s rights. This poetic project, blending art and memory and filmed between New York, Geneva and UNESCO in Paris, will be unveiled at the United Nations for International Women’s Rights Day on March 8, 2026.
A METAPHOR OF WOMEN’S HISTORY
What if climbing a rope became a political act?
In WOMAN ON ROPE, Guila Clara Kessous embodies, through a simple yet powerful gesture, the journey of women’s emancipation across time.
Filmed in three symbolically charged locations — New York, Geneva, and Paris at UNESCO — the film stages a woman climbing a rope rising toward the sky.
Each grip, each step, represents a landmark moment in the history of women’s rights: from the earliest feminist writings to the legalization of abortion, including recent setbacks in Iran and Afghanistan.
The ascent is also marked by slips, struggles, and regressions.
At its peak, the gesture transforms into an act of hope: a release of doves concludes the climb, as a universal call for peace and equality.
“...MORE THAN MY OWN CHALLENGE”
“When I was a child, people made fun of me because I couldn’t do it.
It was only much later, through my commitment to women’s rights around the world, that I understood this ascent represented more than my own struggle: it symbolized the efforts of all women striving toward equality.” — Guila Clara Kessous
AN EMBODIED TIMELINE
The project is built on a visual chronological axis, where the ascent is punctuated by historic dates — both advances and setbacks — in the struggle for women’s rights.
A NARRATIVE EMBODIED BY THE VOICES OF THE WORLD
The short film follows a structure of seven visual chapters, each embodying a country, a date, a struggle:
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France, 1944 — The right to vote: a ballot paper tied to the rope
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India, 1975 — National strike: a saffron cloth stained with earth
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Iran, 2022 — Mahsa Amini: a lock of hair knotted to the rope
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DRC, 2000s — Wartime violence: a red bandage
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Saudi Arabia, 2018 — The right to drive: an old rusty key
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United States, 2022 — Roe v. Wade overturned: ink-stained gloves
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Afghanistan, 2021–2026 — Girls banned from school: a closed notebook
Each symbol is accompanied by a woman’s voice in her native language, forming a universal and moving polyphony.
The climb thus becomes embodied memory — a silent yet powerful plea for the recognition of women’s rights as fundamental human rights.
KEY INFORMATION
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Shooting with designer Célestina Agustino: June 2025
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Filming in New York, Geneva (UN), and Paris (UNESCO): June to July 2025
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Official release: March 8, 2026 — United Nations, International Women’s Rights Day
