The aim of the exhibition Women of Cotton is to pay tribute to women workers, in this case those who worked at Algodonera San Antonio. Through various artistic disciplines (illustrations, poetry, photographs, literature, fashion...) the life stories of these women will be narrated, explaining everything they lived through.
This project, created in Andoain, was initially born as a fashion project, but gradually acquired a cultural tone. In 1857-1965 Andoain had a factory called Algodonera Guipuzcoana. The 90% of the workers were women. With the aim of honouring and strengthening all these women, the exhibition Women of Cotton was created. This exhibition took place from 3 to 20 march at the Bastero Cultural Centre. After the closure of the textile factory in Andoain, many of the women who worked there moved to Bergara to work, so the second stop of this project was Bergara.
The exhibition is made up of different "totems", which are displayed in the image, and it shows poetry, photographs, illustrations... The totem poles in Andoain are white, while those in Bergara are blue, referring to the colour of the table.
The women of cotton is a sustainable exhibition. The "totem poles" are made of wood and fabric from the Irizar factory. On the other hand, the fabrics of the Andoain section are those given to us by a woman. We think they are from Algodón de Andoain. On the other hand, the tubes that hang the fabrics are from the shop "Muchas telas" in San Sebastian. In this exhibition the only new objects are the aluminium tubes.
As we have already mentioned, this exhibition tells the life stories of the women who worked in the "Algodonera San Antonio" workshop. For this purpose we have met with 8 women recalling the past moments. Many exhibition totems carry a QR code with the voices and stories of the women. In addition, the exhibition will have several small catalogues with all the stories.
Guided tours
Although the exhibition is well understood in itself (there will be sufficient documentation), guided tours will be organised in Basque and Spanish. In these visits, as well as explaining the exhibition, various anecdotes and little stories will be told.
The dates are:
- 7 July, Wednesday, 12:00
- 21 July, Wednesday, 12:00
- 28 July, Wednesday, 12:00
- 4 August, Wednesday, 12:00
- 25 August, Wednesday, 12:00/18:00
- 1 September, Wednesday, 12:00/18:00
* Bisita gidatu guztiak dagoeneko egin dira.
Educational Units
This project offers the didactic unit "Ehun lantegiak Bergaran", different life stories and adds documentation to it. The didactic unit was previously worked on by the departments of Municipal Archives, Equaly and Youth and Education and Participation of the Bergara Town Council, and can be downloaded at https://sites.google.com/view/ehunlantegiakbergaran
Conferences
The speed of fashion is causing the progressive loss of jobs of yesteryear, like the textiles. With the aim of highlighting the work that these women did and promoting a sustainable life (we must bear in mind that these women lived in a totally sustainable way: they exchanged clothes among themselves, repaired the fabrics over and over again...) we propose different talks.
Date: September 23rd, 2021, Thursday
Place: Seminarixoa
Ask for an invitation here: https://seminarixoa.eus/
Remember that seating is limited.
- 10:00 tak aimed at children.
- 18:00 talk aimed at adult audiences.
This conference, recorded, can be watched here: https://youtu.be/0pxDr8PSIlo
Workshops
The following cotton wool courses are proposed. The workshops will be in Basque and Spanish.
Place: Laboratorium
Kotoizko kala eta marrazkiak: Kala lorea egingo dugu kotoia erabiliz.
Adina: 6-12 urteko pertsonak
Materiala: Kotoizko diskoak, makilatxoak, guraizeak, kola, egurrezko makilak
Eguna: 2021.09.25, larunbata
Ordua: 10:30 - 13:30
Izena eman eskaera-orri honetan