The project includes a series of conferences as well as two exhibitions. The first of these exhibitions will be 'Women and Resistance', produced by La Nau Cultural Centre; while the second, 'Pilar Coll Alas and the contemporaries in Gandia', is an own production made for the occasion. This cycle aims to highlight and remember the role played by women during this period and the contribution they have made in many areas of current affairs.
The councillor of Democratic Memory and Culture, Nahuel González; together with Carme Melo, director of the Centre Inede Gandia UV; and Cristina Escrivà, researcher, documentalist and president of the Cultural Association Instituto Obrero, have presented this morning the cycle of conferences and exhibitions "Les Dones de la II República". These activities will be held at the Casa de la Cultura and Sala Tossal in Gandia from March 31st to May 5th.
"Many people do not realise the important role that many women played in the republican period and the subsequent resistance", said González. This cycle is aimed at this group, which was relegated to second place in the task of democratic remembrance, among others. "We are proud to vindicate their memory; to remember so as not to forget and, above all, to improve our democracy", said the councillor.
"We want to give visibility to all that effervescence and the contribution made by women in a time of difficulties marked by patriarchy and sexism", explained Melo, who also wanted to point out that in the current legal situation many of the teaching methods we use and the rights that women have "are achievements of that time. We have to keep this memory alive and make the younger generations aware of it".
The cycle will be inaugurated on 31st March at the Sala Tossal, with an exhibition dedicated to the Gandia educator Pilar Coll Alas and her contemporaries in Gandia. "This exhibition gives visibility to over 600 women who did their best to make everything work during the war," declared Escrivà. "We have brought images of these women to light for the first time, as well as photographs of the exile of Pilar Coll herself, which will become part of Gandia's heritage", she concluded. On the same Thursday, the exhibition "Dones i Resistència" (Women and Resistance), produced by La Nau Cultural Centre, will be inaugurated at the Casa de la Cultura Marqués de González de Quirós.
In addition to these exhibitions, the cycle will be completed by 4 conferences spread over the months of April and May. Cinema, pedagogy and the figure of women, both at national, Valencian and local level, will be the main themes addressed in these activities modulated by lecturers from the Universitat de València and Barcelona.
The first of these lectures will take place on 7 April and will be given by Mary Nash, professor at the University of Barcelona and one of the leading specialists in Spanish history. The second lecture will be devoted to analysing the role of Republican teachers and will be given by Carmen Agulló, full university professor of History of Education at the Universitat de València, and will take place on 21st April. Meanwhile, on 29th April it will be the turn of Marta Garcia-Carrión, Professor of Contemporary History at the UV, who will talk about the role of Republican women in cinema. The last event of the cycle will be on 7 May with a round table that will analyse the role of women in the region of La Safor during the Second Republic.
The cycle is organised by the Centre of Gandia of the Universitat de València and by the departments of Culture and Democratic Memory, with the collaboration of the area of Equality, Diversity and Inclusive Policies of the City Council of Gandia.
Links:
