SHE BLADES
What will you cut?
International Platform for Women's Cutting Arts
# CHANTAL GILBERT
# GRACE HORNE
# POLA MALANDAIN
# SILVANA MOUZINHO
# PASCALE SABATE
# SYLVIE PAULIAC
# ANNE-JULIETTE TANGUY
# KELLY VERMEER VELLA
# CHANTAL GILBERT # GRACE HORNE # POLA MALANDAIN # SILVANA MOUZINHO # PASCALE SABATE # SYLVIE PAULIAC # ANNE-JULIETTE TANGUY # KELLY VERMEER VELLA
ABOUT
SHE BLADES
SHE BLADES is the first and only international platform dedicated to women’s cutting arts. It aims to shine a light on women who shape the world of cutting tools - knife makers, sharpeners, curators, designers, researchers, shop owners … and all those whose work remains too often unseen.
Our purpose is to bring visibility, context, and recognition to their craft, their history, and their contribution to contemporary culture.
We believe that the cutting arts carry both technical mastery and symbolic depth. By presenting women's work within this field, we offer a new perspective on blades and the artists who shape them - one rooted in intention, clarity, beauty and courage.
Shining a light on women in tHE cutting arts
What the cutting arts are
The cutting arts encompass both the creation of sharp tools and the mastery of their symbolic, transformative power.
They include the craft of forging knives, shaping blades, sharpening edges, curating knowledge, and all the professions that keep these traditions alive.
But the cutting arts also extend beyond the material world:
they embrace the art of cutting through - the ability to let go of what no longer has a place, to set clear boundaries, and to create space for what should emerge.
In this sense, sharp tools become more than instruments. They become guides for conscious clarity - designed to cut with intention, precision, and integrity.
What we do
Exhibitions & curated programs
SHE BLADES works with museums, cultural institutions, and international events to present exhibitions that foreground women's contributions to the cutting arts.
We curate programs that connect craftsmanship with contemporary reflection, offering audiences a deeper understanding of the artistic, cultural, and symbolic dimensions of the blade.
Craft, knowledge, and community
We support the exchange of knowledge, the transmission of skills, and the circulation of ideas.
Through community spaces, learning opportunities, and international collaborations, we create a network where makers, professionals, and enthusiasts can meet, grow, and inspire each other.
Join the movement
1 - Membership for women in the cutting arts
Whether you are a knife maker or a professional working with sharp tools, SHE BLADES offers a community built on visibility, collaboration, and mutual support.
2 - Membership for companies
Companies can support SHE BLADES through sponsorship levels that provide visibility at exhibitions, events, and across our platform.
3 - Membership for private supporters
Private supporters can help sustain the work, talent, and transmission that keep the cutting arts alive.
What truly matters
What matters can't be measured - it's what moves us from within.
If creativity guides your hands, if collaboration and transmission give you strength, if you feel the call for the beautiful and the courage to follow it, then you are already one of us.
These principles connect everyone who joins SHE BLADES, regardless of background or level of experience.
For now our focus rests on women in the cutting arts, whose contribution remains oft unseen from the public at large. In time, SHE BLADES will welcome everyone - regardless of gender - whose heart resonates with our movement.
Contact & further information
Contact & further information
For questions, collaborations, or membership inquiries, feel free to reach out.
We welcome conversations, curiosity and new connections.
Get in touch
A few words from THE FOUNDER
When I organised the first edition of SHE BLADES in Vienna, Austria in November 2024, I didn't know any of the women knife makers featured on this site.
Yet, as I began connecting with them and their creations gradually arrived at the gallery, it quickly became clear that SHE BLADES would become much more than just a beautiful exhibition.
Beyond promoting female artists, my goal is to highlight the feminine principle - “the YIN” - in a highly “YANG” infused domain. Embracing the feminine principle doesn’t mean decorating knife handles with flowers or painting blades pink. Far from it. It’s about prioritising art, beauty, creation, and collaboration over competition and the relentless pursuit of performance.
Such an initiative might seem trivial or idealistic in today’s challenging world. Yet, as they say in Nepal: “When the cities burn, artists must light the way*.” This saying reflects a timeless truth - chaos and destruction inevitably give way to creativity in art, design, music, writing, healing practices…
By championing art and collaboration over competition and destruction, we contribute to shaping a better future for ourselves and our children - a future rooted in beauty and creation.
We have a lot to cut through on this path. Hence the Cutting Arts have a bright future ahead.
What about you? What will YOU cut?
Stay sharp,
Pola
*This quote is often attributed to Toni Morrison, American novelist and editor, though it's a paraphrase of her actual words. In a 2004 interview, she said: “this is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilisations heal.”