Women by Women 2025

I’m in London, where I represented ActionAid Brazil at the exhibition Women by Women: Rooted in Resistance, organized by ActionAid UK at the Oxo Gallery.

The exhibition presented powerful stories of women defending their territories, communities, and futures from destruction. Among them are the babaçu coconut breakers from Maranhão — quilombola women who turn resistance into livelihood and tradition.

It was deeply moving to see Brazil among the protagonists of this edition. The photographs, taken by the visual artist Nay Jinknss, from Pará, portray Kleidianny Ferreira, Bárbara dos Santos, and Antônia Pereira — women who live in the interior of Maranhão and keep alive the culture of the coconut breakers through collective work.

During the opening of the exhibition, on October 9, which was attended by Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh, Kleidianny shared her life story and struggle — a testimony that moved everyone present. She is a quilombola leader and the general coordinator of the Association of Women Babaçu Coconut Breakers (AMTQC).

Nay’s images capture the essence of these women — their gestures, their gaze, and their daily lives — revealing an ancestral and silent strength. As she says, “photography can be a tool for defending the memory, ancestry, and struggles of communities.”

On the eve of COP30, the work of these women symbolizes what the world must support. Climate justice, land rights, and the voices of Black, Indigenous, and quilombola women must be at the center of global action. This exhibition is a reminder that women are on the frontlines of protecting life, even in the face of the predatory expansion of industrial agriculture.

The physical exhibition ran until October 12, here at the Oxo Gallery, but it can still be visited online at the ActionAid UK website: www.actionaid.org.uk.

📸 Women by Women is an annual ActionAid initiative, held since 2020, and the 2025 edition features Brazil as one of its main highlights with the showcase Rooted in Resilience.

Being here, witnessing the strength and beauty of these stories, is a reminder of the power of women who sustain the world — with their hands, their bodies, and their hope.