Art at FiLiA

By Marta Núñez

In March 2020 the Escalera Caracol Art Gallery and FiLiA UK organised the art exhibition MUJER 2020 (WOMAN 2020) in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The event was one of many to mark the commemoration, International Women’s Day on March 8th.

The exhibition call was launched to invite visual art expressions of everyday women’s struggle for equality, liberation, right to safety, motherhood, representation of our bodies, taking our space at home and in the streets… any expression to remind us of our predicaments and our achievements.

The exhibition opened on 10th March, and it was very well attended in spite of the news of the impending quarantine. As it is customary in Argentina, kisses and hugs abounded. In fact, ten days later we were forced to put an end to the event because of the severe quarantine rules due to the COVID19 pandemic.

One of the promises we made to the artists was that the curator panel was going to select a number of works to be exhibited at FiLiA Feminist Conference in 2020. We all know now that this was not possible.

Being faithful to our promise we would like to exhibit their work, at least virtually. Naturally, we will be taking their beautiful work to be seen at Filia Feminist Conference 2021.

The Exhibition

Perséfone | 2020 by Teresa Cutellé

Embroidery and textile. Watercolour.

“Silent and calm Goddess Persephone, was taken to the Underworld from where every Spring she emerged renewed and powerful. My work shows that sometimes we should cover our eyes and ears to what the world expects from us, so we could go inside us, meet our shadows, and be reborn more intuitive, sager, powerful”

Transformaste 2 | 2019 (You transformed) by Paola Guglietti

Watercolour on handcraft paper.

“This woman is made by eternal matter, like the Universe. She has an intense connexion with Nature and Cosmos. She has the power to transform what is bad in good and curses into blessings. The flowers in her hair talks about erasing from her all past mistreatment and abuses”.

Una mujer | 2019 (A woman) By Isabel Yacussi

Oil painting.

“Her oval face framed by a solid bob, she calmly gazes us…what is she about to tell us?”

Indigencia gestual | 2019 (Gesture of Destitution) by Rita Chica

Oil painting.

“Against a fainted city she sits among rubbish bags, turning her head so her face cannot be seen”.

Los juegos y los miedos (2019) [Games and fears By Alicia Dawidson

Lithography.

“It’s night time. Toys and artifacts acquire scary shapes. Inside, we still have that girl facing monsters and dreaming her escape”.

Niña o Mujer? | 2019 (Girl or woman?) by Gloria Copello

Watercolour.

“A common image from the Latin American countryside. A girl with responsibilities.”

El nido vacío” (2019) [The empty nest] By Cecilia Bernoldi

Mixed techniques.

“Our nest seems to be empty when our children leave but it keeps transforming and giving home to creativity.”

Empoderadas (2019) [Empowered] By Susana Beatriz Delgado

Lithography.

“Fragments of those powerful cries for justice, Vivas Nos Queremos [We want ourselves alive], Basta de Violencia [Stop Violence], Aborto Legal [Legal Abortion], in the background of two angry activists”.