A study of museum holdings from a gender perspective

• Timeframe: en vigor desde 2010
• Lead Insitution: Secretaría de Estado de Cultura, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
• Participants Institutions: Subdirección General de Museos Estatales, Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas, Museo Nacional del Romanticismo, Museo Cerralbo, Museo Sorolla, Museo del Traje CIPE, Museo de América, ARQUA, Museo Nacional de Arte Romano, Museo del Greco, Museo Sefardí, Museo Nacional de Escultura, Museo Nacional de Antropología, Museo de Altamira, Museo Nacional del Teatro, Museo Nacional de Cerámica y Artes Suntuarias González Martí, Museo Casa de Cervantes, Instituto de Investigaciones Feministas de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid
• MAN researcher: Margarita Moreno Conde

Patrimonio en Femenino website

The priority objective of the Female Heritage project is the study of museum holdings and heritage from a gender perspective, with two main lines of activity. On one hand, a documentary analysis of the language used in museums, in the various tools used for cataloguing items, and in educational material, to detect any sexist bias and determine a set of best practice guidelines. On the other, the creation of online exhibitions to bring female heritage to the general public.

The first edition in 2011, titled Patrimonio en Femenino (Female Heritage), analysed women’s roles in different spheres and a range of periods and cultures. The second, in 2012, was Ausencias y Silencios (Absences and Silences), focusing on women’s presence or absence in positions of power, in artistic creation, in access to education, and other areas. The third, in 2013, titled Mujeres ante la adversidad: tiempos y contratiempos (Women Facing Adversity: Hard Times) analyses how different communities of women deal with a crisis, whatever its origin.

After the first edition in 2011, Female Heritage, which analysed women’s roles in different spheres and a range of periods and cultures, the 2012 edition, Absences and Silences, focused on women’s presence or absence in positions of power, in artistic creation, in access to education, and other areas. In 2013, Women Facing Adversity: Hard Times analysed how different communities of women deal with a crisis, whatever its origin.

In 2014, Tradición y Modernidad (Tradition and Modernity) considered the role of women as agents for transmitting values, or breaking away from them. 2015 discussed female sexuality, with the title Eros y Anteros. In 2016, with La memoria femenina: mujeres en la Historia, historias de mujeres (Female Memory: Women in History, Women’s Histories) Female Heritage was extended to Latin America, with participants in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Portugal, and Uruguay.

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