The exhibition exposes to the public 47 works developed by different artists on doors, one for each woman killed by sexist violence in 2018

The doors aim to play homage to the memory of the victims, and generate a debate in society about this social problem.

Alava artists such as David Tavarés, Natalia Albeniz, Eva Mena, Amaia Arrazola or Irantzu Lekue participated

Donostia / San Sebastián, March 11, 2019.- The International Center for Contemporary Culture Tabakalera now hosts the Doors exhibition that will be open to the public until March 31.

The sample, with free entry, exhibits 47 works, one for each woman killed by sexist violence during 2018 in the state. To make them, 47 doors have been used as support for the plastic expression of many other artists, who joined the project in a selfless way. Among them are some names such as Judas Arrieta, Irantzu Lekue, Guille Viglione, Eva Mena or Balú.

According to Edurne Ormazabal, the general director of Tabakalera, Puertas is part of the objective of the International Centre for Contemporary Culture to “contribute to the development of the creative and critical capacity of society.” Through this collaboration, “Tabakalera will help in the visibility of a project that seeks to promote reflection and generate questions about the great challenges of society, among which the issue of violence against women is prominent.”

This artistic initiative, promoted by Dimension, has the support of the City Council of Donostia / San Sebastián, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the Real Sociedad Fundazioa, as well as Tabakalera. Its objective is that it can be displayed in different locations until the end of 2019.

Due to the versatility of its assembly and its informative capacity, “Doors was born with a vocation to move and we hope it can reach the widest possible audience,” explains Victoria Kanpandegi, CEO of Dimension. “The exhibition aims to make the everyday situations that conceal abuse or gender inequality visible, humanize statistics, reclaim the memory of the victims of sexist violence and generate debates using art as a tool”.

The Doors project

Throughout 2018, for each murder of a woman for gender-based violence, Dimension sent a door to each and every artist, who used it as a base on which to create a piece of art. That door as a canvas represents the reality that is on the other side, in order to make it visible. This process of creating each door was also recorded to elaborate a reflection as a documentary about sexist violence. All this material has been collected on the doors.art webpage.

The artists who have participated selflessly in Puertas are: Judas Arrieta, Guille Viglione, Irantzu Lekue, Ángela Alonso, Marcos Navarro, Marc Pe, Sortwo, Higinia Garay, Eva Mena, Fortun, Junita Makina, Diego Besné, Ibai Maritxalar, Oscar Casla, Susi Quiu, David Tavares, Susana Blasco, Imanol Andonegi, Juan Álvarez, Amaia Arrazola, Nagore Olarra, Txemy, Woody James, Pin dbr, Xabier Anunzibai, Goretti Aranburu, Aritz Kabe, Veronica Wermister, Gato Urbistondo, Natalia Albéniz, Laura Miner, Mari Matraka, María Ríos, Ramon Zabalegi, Nerea Urrestarazu, Abel Barcenilla, Belén Lucas, Haizea Merino, Miryam Artola, Iñaki J. Areizaga, Naiara Palacios, Rosario Cornejo, Nagore Legarreta, Bàlu, Iñaki G. Holgado, Paoletta Balmelli, and Garikoitz C. Murua.

The exhibition has already visited  the Anoeta Stadium, the headquarters of the Diputación de Guipuzkoa and  the City Hall of Donostia / San Sebastián and the Centre for Contemporary Art, Tabakaleratil.  In this way, the mayor of Donostia, Eneko Goia, stressed that Puertas “is a contribution to social awareness because through art it addresses a very crude reality.” Goia added that the exhibition “seeks to promote a reflection through some beauty on some situations that, unfortunately, continue to happen in our society.”

For his part, the deputy General of Gipuzkoa, Markel Olano, stressed that “macho violence, in all its expressions, is the most painful consequence of the deep inequality between women and men in our society. It is a social problem  that responds to attitudes and behaviours deeply rooted in our culture. It is up to everyone that this profound transformation ends with this reality that is lived daily, that has aggressors and  victims, but that concerns everyone.”

Facts about sexist violence

In the CAV, 4,565 women receive protection from Ertzaintza as victims of sexist violence; 1,472 of them are in Gipuzkoa, according to data from the Department of Security of the Basque Government. In the state, 700,000 women are mistreated every year. According to the figures of the Government Delegation for Gender Violence, at least 921 sexist murders took place between 2003 and 2017. 47 in 2018.