Standard Chartered is ‘Here For Good’. A bank’s promise to improve communities. Gender pay equality is one of their priorities and they walk the talk: In 2017, they instituted the Fair Pay Charter, pledging to pay men and women equally. In the UAE, the bank has four women in senior management, including their first female CEO, who is Emirati. With positive momentum within, they wanted to raise awareness for gender pay equality on International Women’s Day and inspire other companies to follow suit. One alarming fact surfaced: A global study led by the University of Oxford - Saïd Business School highlighted that works by women artists sell for 47.6% less than those by men. The press reported it. Then the world moved on.

The bank felt that this was not good enough. The budget for an activation was USD 50K, including media.

Our target audience was Government leaders, CEOs, women influencers, artists, general public. People don’t remember statistics. We had to give them a picture. On International Women’s Day, Standard Chartered announced the Art Gap Exhibition.

If women are going to be paid 47.6% less, they will paint 47.6% less.

We brought together a collective of 19 Emirati and expat women artists from 11 nationalities to add their voices to the global gender parity conversation. 19 incomplete paintings created a powerful visual statement. Art Gap used a universal language to highlight gender pay inequality, creatively leveraging scientific research to bring about change.

The exhibition made an impact beyond borders but we needed to ensure our audience got the message. The Book of Art Gap was a compilation of all 19 statements, sent to 250 Priority Banking customers: CEOs and C-suites of leading companies and multinationals in the UAE.

This limited-edition coffee table book showed gender pay equality in a new perspective. The design language used the 47.6% gap throughout the book and was flexible enough to adapt to the different painting shapes.

The cover of the book used a blind foil manifesto to elevate the embossed 47.6% message. The special cover gave readers a preview of the sensorial experience inside. Special paper was chosen and the book had an arthouse feel with Japanese binding.

The die-cuts were crafted to reveal the 52.4% complete paintings, which were all done in complex variation. Each artist was making a statement, personally and through her painting. The book design captured both these statements, inviting readers to interact with each statement, rather than passively read them. This action of revealing each painting gave the art more importance. The book was sent in bubble wrap packaging, the same way paintings are delivered.

+10,000 visitors attended, including dignitaries like Director-General of the Dubai Department of Information, Deputy CEO of the Securities & Commodities Authority, senior representatives from UN Women, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office and UK Trade Commission.

+7,500 pledges for equal pay.

USD 20,000 for 19 artworks, although sales wasn’t an objective.

USD 1.4million in earned media, including BBC Arabic, Thomson Reuters, VICE Arabia, Design TAXI, Toronto Sun Times, Thrive Global, Branding News, Zee TV, Al Hurra TV, China Arab TV, Gulf News.

+20 million social media impressions.

On invitation, the exhibition moved to the prestigious Dubai International Financial Centre (24 April - 8 May).

Art Gap is now a movement, with exhibitions planned at Oxford University and key markets to bring each country’s pay gap to the heart of the conversation: South Korea 34.6%; India 29%; Pakistan 48.4%; Kenya 65%, Indonesia 40.6%.