Curious eyes, an innate zeal to uniquely contribute, and an insane thirst to spread women-led development, were the burning reasons, which shaped WADe INDIA [World Women in Arts, Architecture and Design], a one of a kind event and an exhaustive digital platform, in the Asian sub-continent, on 14th of May 2016.
The seed of WADe was laid back in 2012, when Vertica Dvivedi, Editor, Surfaces Reporter Magazine and the bold woman behind it met the legend, Ar Zaha Hadid in 2012 during an exclusive coverage of her. The research, discussions and ‘what ahead – what next – what new’ led to the thought of creating a platform exclusively for women in design. And the rest is history …
The vacuum was felt, and a dream was born – a desire to connect with and celebrate womanhood, who have significantly contributed in the realm of architecture, arts and design.
A journey, which humbly started as WADe INDIA, magically gathered enormous attention,love and support from across the Asian borders, in just a year,evolving toWADe ASIA, in no time.
It is so overwhelming and immensely satiating to be able to identify, connect with, and acknowledge the womenwho are art maestros, budding talents, architecture geniuses, design prodigies, and creatively brilliant in their respective hemispheres.
By and large, women don’t get an opportunity to network as much as men, and that too,hardly in their industry and fraternity. WADe ASIA wanted to bridge the gap.
WADe ASIA is a sincere attempt and a movement in itself – an intrinsic desire to inject joy, hope and inspiration to every creative woman dreamer, by binding them together on a common platform. WADe Asia is all about unleashing, unheard stories of women, surfacing them up, making them known loudly and proudly, who made it happen amongst all the severe odds.
The last two events of WADe Asia were overwhelmingly well received, attended, absorbed, and highly acknowledged by 1200+ professionals from the national, as well as the international community. Power-talks from the who’s who in arts, architecture and design, panel discussions with eminent guests and delegates, talk shows with the mentors, deeply informative discussions, master-class from the design maestros, the multiple award categories, and a one of a kind opportunity to gel and network with a top of the class, relevant and an enthusiastic troop were just a handful of highlights. The sheer delight, pure sentiments and immense expectations of the participants, evidently reflect at ‘opinion about WADe’.
Some of them felt so honest and fulfilling in their appeal, inspired us to look forward towards bigger responsibilities and challenges:
- I was interacting with so many women peers for the first time in the last 25 years.
- The WADe Asia Conference gave me the opportunity to reconnect with many long lost Indian friends through my journey in life
- Thanks for adding precious and unforgettable memories to my life.
- WADe Asia was an interesting experience with some great speakers. You indeed put in a huge effort!
- Great times spent at the WADe Asia Conference 2017… Interesting presentations and panel discussions, inspiring keynotes by Didi Contractor and Christopher Benninger.
We, at WADe Asia are committed to serve this extended family with full throttle. We are absolutely certain that the below, clear objectives will keep us tight on the aganda and lead us to serve better and more of them:
- To bring women-led projects into limelight
- To connect the aspirers with the leaders
- To handhold the ones, who want to return and re-start
- To consistently inspire, and promote learning & sharing
- To celebrate the life, work, and achievements of women architects, artists and designers
- To reward and recognise
Immense industry insights, warm associations, and a confidence on us with bigger expectations are our treasured and cherished assets. WADe ASIA feel hugely responsible, privileged and blessed to own, protect and strengthen the trust, shown on us during the last two years.
It’s high time that women come forward, step in, take the lead, plug in with WADe Asia and take this to newer, unseen, unheard, and untouched horizons, where we humbly act as an enabler and facilitator. In the words of the founder, Vertica Dvivedi, “Now it is time for you to STEP IN, take ownership and give more meaningful direction to this movement”.
Together with you, we are devoted to invest bigger efforts, go the extra mile, stretch the platform to diverse and deeper territories of arts, architecture and design, in our quest to diversify, connect and empower womanhood.
