Gender Battle

"Gender Battle. Lectures, theatre and debates about the rules of gender, sexuality and the impact of feminism in the art of the seventies"
25 to 27 September 2007


Galician Center for
Contemporary Art
Santiago de Compostela
Galicia (Spain)

http://www.cgac.org

The exhibition Gender Battle, curated by Juan Vicente Aliaga, will be opened in the Galician Center for Contemporary Art on September 13th and around it CGAC presents "Gender Battle. Lectures, theatre and debates about the rules of gender, sexuality and the impact of feminism in the art of the seventies". The goal of organising this cenference is to take on, as far as is possible, a whole spectrum of subjects and problems related to certain fields of feminist movements, the incorporation of the concept of gender as a category to be analysed and the social questioning that started to take force in the seventies related to the barriers between what is considered femenine or masculine. Three intensive days have therefore been organised with three lectures and three round table discussions in which artists, teachers, and activists with an interest in the subject will present to the public of Santiago their point of view about the complex questions of gender and how it materialises in daily life and in art.

25 September, 17:00
In the first lecture, María Laura Rosa, a teacher from Buenos Aires, will take a look at the specifics of art and feminism in four countries in Latin America, namely Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Mexico. In some ways it will be a closer look at the valuable contributions of different practices in art and cinema (María Luisa Bemberg in particular) in relation to social proposals for equality in turbulent times and contexts for politics.

The round table involves Martha Rosler (United States), Sanja Ivekovic (Croatia) and Ulrike Rosenbach (Germany), and aims to share not only the four artists' individual experiences that gave rise to works of great signficance in the seventies, but also to show the diversity of artistic options and different ways of approaching feminism.

26 September, 17:00
The talk by French essayist Elisabeth Lebovici will be focused on a highly symbolic year in France -- 1975, when various different feminist groups came to light and both collective and individual artistic problems with different ideologies arose. The specifics of the Womens' Liberation Movement will be analysed together with the rise of homosexual groups that criticised heterosexist orthodoxy.

Present at the round table will be Carmen Navarrete, Jesús Martínez Oliva, Chelo Matesanz and Assumpta Bassas. The goal is to carry out a critical analysis of the art linked to matters of gender that existed in Spain in the seventies, based on the professional and research experience of four Spanish University lecturers (from the Universities of Valencia, Murcia, Pontevedra and Barcelona).

27 September, 17:00
Amelia Jones' talk is based on the relative surprise that the recent interest in feminism shown by the market and art galleries and centres has caused in this North American essayist, who is also a lecturer at the University of Manchester. This is in marked contrast to the usual disdain shown over the decades by institutions to art that is openly feminist.

Talking at the round table will be Beatriz Suárez Briones, Raquel Osborne and one of the main figures of the feminist movement in Spain, Empar Pineda. They will look back on the struggle for emancipation and equality of rights and the role that feminism played in Spain towards the end of the dictatorship under General Franco and in the transition to democracy.

If you want more information about exhibition and lectures, please contact:

Centro Galego de Arte Contemporánea
Rúa Valle Inclán s/n
15704 Santiago de Compostela
Galicia -Spain
Tel: +34 981 546 619
cgac.prensa@xunta.es
http://www.cgac.org