Each year, on 8 March, countries around the world come together to celebrate International Women’s Day. The annual event was first held in 1911, when over one million people in Austria, Denmark and Germany took to the streets to mark the occasion. Today, it continues to be a moment to acknowledge the remarkable contribution of women and girls to society and to collectively demand more be done to achieve gender justice. To celebrate International Women’s Day 2026, we’re spotlighting 10 global exhibitions of women artists. Many address issues that are intimate and personal, often treated with taboo by society, but that continue to resonate with millions worldwide. Tracey Emin considers the body as a site of healing and expression, whilst several shows explore motherhood and maternal mental health. Other artists zoom out, considering womanhood in the context of socio-political upheaval, such as Fotografiska’s presentation of Atoosa Farahmand & Oscar Hagberg: Not a Typical Persian Girl. These are works by, about and for women – recognising the difficulties, nuances and joys of the female experience, in all its messy and complex glory. 

A woman’s self-portrait is often much more than an image of her body; it can be a powerful tool for addressing social issues. In the exhibition, Fotomuseum den Haag presents work by female artists from its own collection who works with the photographic self-portrait in various ways. The show demonstrates how the medium can explore sensitive themes such as abortion rights, colonial history and body positivity, to make a powerful statement about life as a woman. Featured artists include major figures like Karlo Hiraldo Voleau, Mari Katayama, Thania Petersen, Laura Hospes and Hélène Amouzou. Their works reveal how personal imagery can challenge dominant narratives and open up space for new views on identity.

The National Museum for Women in the Arts has been a powerful advocate for female creatives for decades. Their 2026 Women’s History Month builds on this remarkably legacy, offering a dynamic series of programmes that amplify these voices. Their events incude yoga, tours of their current exhibitions, talks, film screenings, community days and book clubs. This is all on top of their art shows, which are made up of Making Their Mark: Works from the Shah Garg Collection; Tawny Chatmon: Sanctuaries of Truth, Dissolution of Lies; and Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move. NMWA presents a fascinating, poignant and wide-ranging look at how female practitioners have profoundly influenced – and continue to shape – contemporary art. 

Hajar Benjida: Atlanta Made Us Famous

Foam, Amsterdam | Until 25 March  

Magic City is an influential strip club in Atlanta that serves as a cultural epicentre for hip-hop. Hajar Benjida brings it into focus, paying tribute to the women behind-the-scenes, who are creators, caretakers and innovators. Her intimate imagery captures backstage rituals and domestic moments, revealing the versatility and resilience at the core of a thriving subculture. Benjida transforms everyday interactions into visual narratives, challenging assumptions and stereotypes about visibility and agency, whilst highlighting often-overlooked social networks. The works are rooted in long-term engagement with the community, resulting in a series that looks beyond stereotypes and highlights social networks between generations. 

Tate Modern presents the largest ever survey of world-renowned artist Dame Tracey Emin. The show spans 40 years of extraordinary practice, in which Emin uses the female body to explore passion, pain and healing. Visitors will be able to witness over 100 works encompassing painting, video, textile, neon, sculpture and installation. At the heart of the show sit two seminal installations: Exorcism of the Last Painting I Ever Made (1996) and My Bed (1998). The first documents a period of three weeks where Emin locked herself in a Stockholm gallery to reconcile her relationship with painting, whilst her Turner Prize-nominated installation documented her recovery from an alcohol-fuelled breakdown. 

Yin Xiuzhen is a pioneering artist of her generation, who first emerged on the contemporary Chinese art scene in the early 1990s. This is the first major UK survey of work her work, arguably long overdue. Hayward Gallery comprehensively presents Yin’s artistic journey across installation, sculpture, photography, video and archival materials of her early performances. The show takes its name from a new commission: a huge, immersive textile installation shaped like a human heart. Inviting visitors to step inside, the work is built from used clothing items collected from a wide array of people, signifying the gathering of shared memories. The result is a space for reflection on how our experiences intertwine.

Photographer Carolyn Mendelsohn’s powerful photography series, titled This is Also Motherhood: Portraits of Mental Health, Strength and Survival, explores the often-overlooked realities of perinatal mental health. She explains: “Working with these extraordinary women gave me a rare chance to reflect on my own experiences as a mother. More than anything, I hope these portraits help open conversations, so others feel heard, supported and and know they’re not alone.” One in four women and birthing people experience perinatal mental illness, and yet stereotypes and taboos are still common. This show is a vital force in breaking down this stigma, amplifying authentic voices and raising awareness of parental care. 

Founded in 1919, the Bauhaus – German for “building house” – was a radical new school of art, design and architecture that revolutionised 20^th century aesthetics. The women photographers of the Bauhaus movement experimented with photographic and artistic techniques and probed the boundaries of the new medium. They observed the world around them through the lens of a camera and often captured subjects from novel, unconventional perspectives. Many audiences today are familiar with the iconic works, but only a few are aware of the women who made them. In this show, the Bauhaus-Archiv celebrates, for the first time, the significant contribution of these women and their oeuvres. 

Atoosa Farahmand and Oscar Hagberg depict the conditions of women in Iran – a life marked by oppression but also by strength, resistance, and refusing to be silenced. The artists use photography, installation and moving image to highlight how freedoms – like riding a bike, singing or going to a football match – have been restricted since the 1979 revolution. It’s a poignant message, made more powerful in light of recent events in the region. The duo say “we dedicate this exhibition to all the women of Iran who are currently risking their lives for freedom, democracy and equality. We want to focus our attention on a margiinalised reality but also invite the audience to ask how their struggle is connected to our own.” 

MOTHER 
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne | Opens 27 March 

From the wall caves of ancient Egyptian tombs, Renaissance frescoes and beyond, the depiction of mother and child stands as one of the oldest and most enduring themes in art history. MOTHER explores how the experiences of being and having a mother continue to fascinate artists across cultures and generations, including Louise Bourgeois, Tracey Emin, Camille Henrot, David Hockney and Tracey Moffat. The exhibition traverses geographies, cultures and mediums, unpacking both universal and culturally specific experiences of motherhood, such as transformation and joy; societal expectations and invisible labour; mythology and religious iconography; as well as the deep connection between motherhood and nature. 

Colour Me Modern: Claire Aho and the New Woman

Hundred Heroines Gallery, Nailsworth | Until 31 May 

Claire Aho was known as the “Grand Old Lady of Finnish Photography.” Her vibrant shots brought wit, colour and cinematic flair to postwar image-making, across her work in fashion, advertising and editorial. Aho was an early adopter of colour photography, using it to produce images that captured the optimism of the time. Her oeuvre breaks one record after another. She was the only woman to film at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, leading to her to be hired as a photojournalist by Pathé News, New York – as the only woman among 400 reporting from Finland. The show is at Hundred Heroines, the UK’s only museum dedicated to women in photography, a fitting setting for an artist who pioneered the medium in so many ways.

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Words: Emma Jacob

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Image Credits:

1. Not A Typical Persian Girl © Atoosa Farahmand och Oscar Hagberg.
2. Karla Hiraldo, Virgen De Guadalupe, 2023.
3. Ruth Orkin, American Girl in Italy, 1951 (printed 1980 by Ruth Orkin Estate); Gelatin silver print, 23 x 28 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Promised gift of Steven Scott, Baltimore, in honor of NMWA Director Susan Fisher Sterling.
4. Hajar Benjida, Goddess, (2025).
5. Tracey Emin, I whisper to My Past Do I have Another Choice, 2010 © Tracey Emin. All rights reserved, DACS 2026.
6. Yin Xiuzhen, Introspective Cavity, 2008. Used clothes, stainless steel, mirror, sound, sponge. 1500 x 900 x 425 cm. Installation view, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing. Photo: Courtesy of the artist, Beijing Commune, and UCCA.
7. Raiye portrait © Carolyn Mendelsohn.
8. Grit Kallin-Fischer, Self-Portrait with Cigarette, circa 1928, Bauhaus Archive Berlin.
9. Not A Typical Persian Girl © Atoosa Farahmand och Oscar Hagberg.
10. Hayley Millar Baker Entr’acte 2023. National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne . Purchased with funds donated by Craig Semple, 2024 © Hayley Millar Baker.
11. Claire Aho, Marimekko Parasol. Model Carita Järvinen, c.1965 © JB, courtesy of Aho & Soldan Photo and Film Foundation.