Opening up the Public Sector through Collaborative Governance
Cultural Heritage and Museums – Moving towards Gender Perspective Submitted by Ministry of Culture of Spain and Complutense University of Madrid Contact details of lead applicant
Case description
Organisation Address Country Web address
The equality of men and women is a fundamental principle of EC law, recently revised in Directive 2006/54/EC on the implementation of the principle of equal opportunities and equal treatment. In Spain, this principle is legislated by Organic Law 3/2007 of 22 March on the effective equality of men and women. Indeed, the changes that our society has experienced require a series of initiatives to make gender equality truly effective. The project ‘Cultural Heritage and Museums: Moving towards Gender Perspective’ advocates the effective implementation of that equality.
Ministry of Culture of Spain and Complutense University of Madrid C/ Rector Royo Villanova s/n 28040 Madrid Spain http://en.www.mcu.es/MC/Mujeres
Contact Person Marian López Fdz. Cao Function Responsible of the Project Email macao@edu.ucm.es instifem@rect.ucm.es Administrative level of lead applicant National
Number of people involved in the project >15 Type of sector Sports, youth, culture and art; Education, training and learning Key words of project Gender equality, culture, education, social participation, museums
Motivated by the need to revise the discourse of certain museums, in July 2009 the Spanish Ministry of Culture signed a cooperation agreement with the Complutense University of Madrid. Under the terms of this agreement, the ministry would work with the university’s Feminist Research Institute to effectively implement a gender perspective in state-owned museums. Four major museums operated by the Ministry of Culture were chosen for this project: the National Archaeological Museum, the Prado Museum, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, and the Garment Museum, Ethnological Heritage Research Centre (CIPE). The project involves two main tasks: 1. An in-depth analysis of these museums. The project evaluates the collections, exhibition discourses, artwork acquisition criteria and documents generated by the museums over the last ten years from a gender perspective. The primary aim is to detect any potential gender bias that may downplay the participation of women as creators and co-protagonists in society. 2. At the same time, by reinforcing communication with civil society and the public, the project proposes new views of presenting the museum collections from a different perspective putting the emphasis on the efforts and knowledge of women in history, culture and society. As an extension of the cooperation agreement between the Complutense University of Madrid and the Ministry of Culture, the Directorate-General of Fine Arts organised the first online exhibition entitled ‘Heritage in Feminine Code’. The exhibition analyses the active participation and presence of women throughout history by giving an overview of pieces from the collections of thirty Spanish museums belonging to the Digital Network of Spanish Museum Collections. All these initiatives will make the role of women in culture and civil society visible, turning museums into social agents of democracy and equality and designing and implementing a roadmap of best practices for culture. 225
EPSA2011163
Size of organisation >100
Informal educational centres and museums are an essential tool for broadcasting a different world view, one which shows that women have also played a prominent role in the cultural arena. This project is based on cooperation between public authorities and public/private institutions; multi- and interdisciplinary teamwork among museum professionals, researchers, university professors/lecturers and associations; the dissemination of information through new technologies; the democratisation of access to culture and heritage through the use of online resources, digitisation of collections, etc.; and the active participation of civil society in understanding cultural heritage from a gender perspective.