WEMEN . 2022 . SPAIN
IN A NUTSHELL
Gender equality and feminism have a universally recognised benefit for people. However, our visual references (media, advertisements, movies, popular culture) are still full of sexist stereotypes and vividly illustrate the depth of stereotypes permeating our contemporary civilisation. Yet everyone has much to gain from the equality of all people, genders and sexes. This project offered professionals and young artists from different European contexts, a privileged opportunity to discuss and share their stories and perceptions of gender (in)equality.
Our partner, Células Durmientes (Sleeping Cells) organised a 5-day workshop in Segovia, Spain where we gathered artivists from France, Poland, Bulgaria, Spain, Hungary and South Korea to visualise their connections to feminism (today).
The workshop was hosted by Duermevela Hostel whose welcoming hosts accommodated us, gave us space to work and prepared delicious vegan food for us.
All activities developed in the workshop were based on methods of non-formal education and experiential education. The participation of participants in all parts of the project was intended to ensure the best use of the skills they have and those acquired during our training. The experimental lab introduced some theoretical input on the history of feminism, and gender archetypes originating from early methodology and sealed in contemporary culture. The workshop was celebrated in a local exhibition that was hosted by Spazio En Blanco - an art atelier and gallery space in Segovia.
#Expussytion2: the exhibition
At the final exhibition, the visitors could discover our reflections on our gender roles and how they affect our lives. The artworks were created in only a couple of hours while we had been exploring different topics and ways to rewrite and create stories, to convey our messages by using the universal visual language of the comics.
▶ download the exhibition e-zine catalogue here: full quality or a compressed version
The exhibition took place in Spazio En Blanco - an art atelier and gallery space in Segovia (Spain).
FACILITATORS
ÅL NIK [ALEXANDRA NIKOLOVA]
Visual artist & illustrator
Our Alexandra (or Ål Nik as per her artistic name) has been working in the fields of visual art, illustration, communication design, copywriting, digital communication and entrepreneurship for the last 15 years. She is a non-formal education trainer since 2014 when she started teaching about digital skills and all creative ways to do online marketing and business planning. Whilst working on Erasmus+ trainings, she also became quite excited to design and write such projects. Alex is a graduate of two bachelors: “History of Art” and “Art Education Theory and Practice” in the National Art Academy in Sofia and is interested in exploring the possibilities of using art as an educational tool as well as an effective tool for communication, inclusion and self-development.
ILARIA FRESA
Graphic recorder & visual facilitator
Our Ilaria is a graphic recorder and visual facilitator engaged to spread the use of visual language as a tool to support the learning processes. Her mission is to help people to explore their full potential and support groups to develop projects and focus on the implementation. As a social researcher, she graduated in Political Science with a Master of Art in communication and sociology of Migration, she conducted a number of researches concerning gender and refugees’ empowerment - focused on financial education and family balance and savings - within European projects.
This project has been co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme. If you would like to find out more about the programme, please visit European Commission’s webpage here.
