“What does a primary school do when the prime minister comes to visit? They put up paintings and they sing,” said Eliza Bonham Carter, one of the speakers at CAMWIB’s ‘Women in the Arts Panel’. This quote almost says it all. But let’s start at the beginning: waking up this morning to the radio blaring news of Trump.

As the world builds more walls around us, the message of partnership and of thinking creatively to open up communications and create that magical meeting point of art with its audience has never felt more important.

In the lunch break of Cambridge’s ‘Borderlines’ conference, my friend and I spoke to Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the former UK correspondent to the UN. Fired up by a morning’s discussion about the unsettled world, we asked him: but what can we do? Where do we start? A piece of advice has stayed in my head since. There are so many different aspects to our identity. We are not defined by one thing at one time. When part of ourselves feels threatened, we can’t forget the broader picture of who we are. So don’t be angry ‘because I’m a woman’, but ‘because I’m a human being’.

To use a friendly cliché: easier said than done. “The market doesn’t trust women,” said Valeria Napoleone, who spoke passionately about the challenges faced by women forging careers in the arts business. It may be no surprise to you that women’s art continues to be treated differently, whether it’s lower prices or the gendered lens through which people view it. The nub of the matter, to use Bonham Carter’s words again, is that you have to “insert it into the male world” and, although things have improved, “you remain the other”.

At school, I boycotted the mock election which was run to mirror the country’s election for Prime Minister. I stood independently because all of the candidates running were male. “That stupid woman-girl”, “What even are her policies on tax?” – not the responses I had been hoping for perhaps. “Should I vote for you because you’re a girl?” Good question. In the light of the issues raised by the inspiring women who spoke at CAMWIB’s panel, I’m realising what an important one it is.

“You need a range of views and so many different aspects of knowledge to succeed in the art world”

It feels more vital to talk about art and the issues it raises than ever before. Yet we can’t just use the language and perspectives of the West, according to Touria El Glaoui, one of the speakers and founder of the African art fair 1:54. Issues surrounding things such as technology are given a different perspective when considering how social media has enabled African artists to find an audience.

Like many of us at this event, you might be wondering where to start with pursuing a career in the arts, wondering if you’re good enough and if it’s ever possible to do enough. Frances Christie, Senior Director at Sotheby’s, who studied at Cambridge, told us about when she went to a careers adviser and said she wanted to do an MA in the arts: “You what?” There were no options. In fact, she said that she experienced the gender issue more at Cambridge than in her profession.

It’s time to change our conceptions of the art world. So start with the real thing, take away the screen and experience it. “Feel it on your body”. We have many reasons to be optimistic. “It’s normal for women to be successful today,” says El Glaoui – things are changing. Grab all the possibilities. Take advantage of all of the lectures available and go to different ones in other departments every now and then. You need a range of views and so many different aspects of knowledge to succeed in the art world.

Review: Love Art After Dark

I was eating beetroots on a wonderful friend’s bedroom floor the other day, talking about life and the world with a group of people who had never all been together before. We had just been to ‘Love Art After Dark’ at the Fitzwilliam Museum. It struck me that these moments are starting points. Stepping outside of the ‘my essay’ bubble and creating things with each other, empowering one another. Partnership is the most powerful tool that we have and art is one of the most powerful ways of creating this. As the world is shaped more by lies and deceit, we must learn to trust again, to listen to life on the other side of the wall. It’s all about creating a loyal “web of support around you”, said Napoleon, and our community is our starting point.

The shape of leadership shouldn’t be a pyramid anymore, said Sir Greenstock. We don’t need a wide base of sheep and a sharp point of leaders. We should start thinking in circles. Leading and listening rotating equally. I would like to add something: each time you listen, change the way you lead, just as each time we experience art it inspires what we give back. This circle should not be a comfortable form which rolls along, gathering sheep on its way. Don’t let us get trapped in a cycle of recycled language, recycled views. Keep adjusting your lens as you stand in front of those paintings, or sit on the benches of Corpus Playroom or accidentally-on-purpose be the English student at the back of a law lecture.

Stepping out into the art world, how can you begin to convince people that you are serious? The message was clear. Passion and energy, of course, but above all you need a sense of humour. As an incredible friend told me before that election, “anger can change the world, bitterness can’t.” And if you haven’t already done so, check out Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk, ‘We Should All Be Feminists’. Her anecdote about being class monitor is a particular favourite.