Judy Chicago: What If Women Ruled the World?

Titled What If Women Ruled the World?, the project invites audiences worldwide to answer questions raised by Chicago and to add their voices to a physical and digital quilt woven from the responses of all participants. After stops in the United States, Mexico, Argentina, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, the project will make its debut in the Middle East. The Museum invites viewers to step into an interactive booth, respond to questions, and take part in the work’s latest chapter.

A traditional craft of fabric reuse, quilting was widespread as early as the 17th and 18th centuries, especially among women in North America. Over time, it evolved into a family-based tradition, a medium for transmitting memories, emotions, and personal narratives, its products becoming cultural, political, and personal objects. Feminist artists later sought to reclaim this "feminine" craft, transforming it into a recognized form of fine art. In 2022, Chicago and Tolokonnikova came together with DMINTI, a cultural organization at the intersection of art and technology, to conceive a global participatory project reviving the quilt tradition as a potent artistic medium.

The project sparks an intergenerational dialogue between Chicago’s feminism, rooted in awareness-raising and communal action, and Tolokonnikova’s direct, defiant, global activism. Their collaboration affirms that feminism is not a monolithic idea but a dynamic field of voices, thoughts, and shared experiences.

Chicago and Tolokonnikova have both seen the healing power of art and art as a medium for social and political change. This participatory work now arrives at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, marking its debut in a region shaped by traditional societies, where women continue to fight for personal safety, representation, and the right to be heard; an arena scarred by violent conflict and enduring inequality. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art hopes the quilt becomes a platform for fostering a discussion of a different tomorrow: a future where leadership is defined by empathy, collaboration, and responsibility.

Groundbreaking American artist Judy Chicago, one of the most influential figures in contemporary art, has inspired generations of women. Over six decades, she has engaged with gender, identity, the body, social and political justice, environmental awareness, and the rewriting of history from a female perspective. Chicago's art is aimed at making women’s experiences visible, recounting and preserving their stories, and critiquing power structures and various forms of social injustice. A prominent voice in second-wave feminism during the 1960s and founder of the first feminist art program in the U.S., she championed mediums traditionally labeled "feminine," embraced a bold color palette, and brought female experiences—long excluded from the art world—to the spotlight.

Chicago's best-known work is The Dinner Party (1974–79), the piece with which she is most closely associated and a landmark in feminist art, permanently housed at the Brooklyn Museum. A monumental installation, it features a table set for thirty-nine famous women—both mythical and historical figures, including Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, and Georgia O'Keeffe. Other key works by Chicago include the Birth Project (1980–85), a series of works combining painting and needlework exploring the subject of birth – until very recently, a traditionally taboo subject in Western art—and Holocaust Project: From Darkness into Light (1985–93), created over eight years in collaboration with her photographer husband, Donald Woodman, which reflects on memory, morality, guilt, and responsibility, bringing together her Jewish identity, her commitment to political and social art, and her dedication to the healing power of art.

Although she gained recognition as an artist in the 1970s, Chicago continued to operate on the margins of the international art world for much of her career. In recent years, her work has seen a resurgence worldwide—a renewed interest and popularity that have positioned it as a living bridge between feminist history and today's feminism, reinstating Chicago at the center of artistic discourse. Among younger generations, she is regarded as an iconic figure, continuously evolving and responding, embodying radical feminine courage. Exhibitions dedicated to her work are showcased in major museums throughout the world. Her works attract hundreds of thousands of views on digital platforms and her five-year long collaboration with Dior has received worldwide attention.