Faculty of Arts & Humanities' exhibition brings together stories of empowerment from migrant women and girls

Curated by Laia Narciso, lecturer in the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology at the UAB, and Nicolas Hermansen, from the Institut del Teatre. At the exhibition's opening ceremony, which took place today, Narciso emphasised that this exhibition is based on the transfer of ideas from the field of research to the cultural sphere “so that they have more impact on society.” The lecturer contextualised the consolidation of the concept of gender empowerment in the academic sphere, and Hermansen asserted that “empowerment cannot be limited to a single definition”. Finally, Narciso explained that the women featured in the exhibition are characterised by their diversity of ages, backgrounds, and beliefs, and she celebrated the collaboration between the UAB's EMIGRA research group and various social entities in this project.

Margarita Freixas, dean of the Faculty of Arts & Humanities, also spoke at the opening ceremony, expressing her satisfaction with the link between university research and the exhibition of an informative display. She also emphasised that this exhibition ties in “with the values of the UAB and the Faculty,” especially with regard to the commitment to incorporating the gender perspective into all teaching and research. Laura Santamaria, vice-rector for Culture and Language Policy, stated that this initiative “is an example of what we like at the UAB: research goes into art, and art returns to the university as teaching material.” According to Santamaria, it is necessary to go beyond the synthetic messages of social media with content such as that represented in this exhibition in order to confront the decline of democratic and humanistic values.