“IF – I Femme” is an art photography project initiated by IE Business School alumnae and currently employees, Tetyana Kretova (Executive MBA 2014) and Viet Ha Tran (Master in Marketing Management 2009). Inspired by empowering women and tremendously enthusiastic about developing talent, Tetyana and Viet Ha have decided to join forces to create an art project that aims to develop and nurture girls´ talent. Driven by their passion for changing the world coupled with a strong interest in art & fashion, their new initiative is slated to launch in autumn of 2017.
OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT
The art photography project “I Femme” will be launched as a global campaign which will target art collectors, galleries, museums and those who are advocates of charity projects and making an impact. 100% of the net profit from the artwork sales will be directly donated to the non-profit organization ROOM TO READ which helps to build schools for poor children in developing countries including India, Nepal and Vietnam, and also provides scholarships for girls without access to education.
Room to Read, with headquarters in San Francisco, USA, is a leading non-profit focused on girls’ education and children’s literacy in Asia and Africa.
Viet Ha Tran, a fine art photographer whose artwork is collected worldwide by art collectors, art dealers, auction houses and galleries, will be creating artwork from these photo shootings (See her artist bio below).
Viet Ha and Tetyana´s project “IF – I Femme” coincides with the launch of the IE Women Initiative, a project launched by IE Business School which serves as a transversal initiative designed to attract and retain female talent, inspire confidence, and support women on their pursuit toward success.
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND
Tetyana and Viet Ha, who are both strong believers in women´s talent and hold a great deal of mutual respect and admiration for each other´s artistic spirit and talent, started planning this art project together since October 2016 with the aim of empowering women through drawing a picture of how globalization has enabled women to live their dreams and how women have evolved to hold very successful careers while maintaining their identity and culture.
In December 2016 Viet Ha, during her backpacking trip in Nepal, while walking down the busy, dusty streets of Kathmandu, she stumbled into a bookshop, losing herself amidst hundreds of inspirational books about climbing Everest. One specific book captured her complete attention. It documented the very motivational life of John Wood who left his successful career as a Microsoft executive to change the world of children in developing countries through founding Room to Read. His idea, coincidentally, was also the result of a creative spark during his backpacking trip in Kathmandu and Nepal.
RAISING FUNDS
In order to fund “I Femme” the team is looking for different sources of funding on from both corporate and individual levels. The funds will be used to cover photoshoot expenses (shooting locations rentals, make-up artists, stylists, hair dressers, fashion designers etc), artwork printing for exhibitions at various international locations, as well as for organizing conferences on empowering women in cities starting with London, Paris, New York.
You can help fund the project via GO FUND ME. Corporate sponsors can reach out to us at vietha.tran@ie.edu and tetyana.kretova@ie.edu to discuss sponsorship details.
At a later stage, white shirts and cufflinks will also be made available to raise more funds for the project.
CASTING CALL
We are looking for female IE students/alumni/employees from different countries with inspiring stories about their life to join the project as models. The photo shootings are scheduled to take place during June and August 2017. Please send photograph samples to contact@viethatran.com for the casting. Thank you for joining us in this project that will help changing the lives of many children.
About the Team:
VIET HA TRAN (Director of IE Finance Admissions & Fine Art Photographer)
Viet Ha is a Vietnam-born and Spain-based fine art photographer known for her emotionally dense and endlessly compelling photographs of women. Her art emphasizes fantasy and imagination as a source of aesthetic experience. Her work has appeared in El Economista, Vogue Italia, Vanity Fair France, The Times of India, Vietnam News, Vietnam Television, at Saatchi Gallery London, and has been auctioned by Christie’s Hong Kong for charity. She is listed as global artist by Artprice, the world leader in art market information, and has been represented by Art+Commerce/Vogue Italia, the largest global photo agency based in New York. Starting photography in 2013 as an enthusiastic hobbyist photographer until the present, Viet Ha’s artwork has been published in over 120 different magazines and newspapers around the world. Her artwork is collected by galleries, auction houses, luxury hotels, art dealers and more around the world.
Passionate about changing the world since a very young age, Viet Ha believes that education is a powerful weapon which can be used to make change happen and that art is another powerful tool that helps changing a person´s inner world and vision. Now currently working both in the fields of education and art, Viet Ha is fulfilling her life´s dream and plans to work on many art projects dedicated to charity in the future.
TETYANA KRETOVA (Director of IE Asia Pacific Region & Co-Founder of Simplifi)
Born Ukrainian, Tetyana is an international business professional based in Spain. Throughout her tenure she has always held an active social position of creating positive impact on the lives of people, founding a national organization for young leaders, JCI, which supports NGOs dealing with issues related to increasing economic opportunities. Her most recent venture Simplifi, where she serves as Creative Director and Co-Founder, is a socially committed white shirt company for women with character.
The brand does not only aims at providing high quality products but also encourages women to be true to themselves. Successful CEOs and top managers are among brand clients, since the brand aims at people who set positive examples for success. The shirts are created and produced in Ukraine at the social enterprise Barvysta which employs women in need. The artistic photographs of “IF – I Femme” will use Simplifi´s white shirts to draw a picture of modern, independent, global and successful women of the 21st century who are the owners of their destiny.
