January 31, 2020 marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Concepción Arenal, in Ferrol. Thinker, journalist, poet and playwright, as well as a pioneer of feminism, she is the most important thinker of the 19th century and a key figure in Spanish culture in the forging of a liberal national consciousness. This exhibition organized by Acción Cultural Española and the National Library wants to highlight the figure of this great unknown to the Spanish public. Make both the person and their contributions close, and see Arenal as a woman moved by an intense passion to know, to understand and to contribute to the improvement of her world.
Therefore, the first goal of the exhibition is to highlight the figure of this great thinker unknown to the Spanish public. Make both the person and her contributions close. Make Arenal see as a woman moved by an intense passion to know, to understand and to contribute to the improvement of her world. Passionate in her affections and disaffections, she was distant in conventional relationships, but warm with her own and compassionate with the most disadvantaged.
This approach requires introducing the viewer to the environments in which she lived and, as far as possible, to the joys, sorrows, learnings, achievements and frustrations that they meant for her. The exhibition through visual, installation and audiovisual resources allows the viewer to bring her life, her vicissitudes, her values and her searches closer to the viewer.
The exhibition is structured in eight biographical spaces (Ferrol, Armano, Madrid, Potes, Coruña, Madrid, Gijón, Vigo) in which she lived, thought, wrote, loved and repaired texts, manuscripts, objects and images linked to her life. Four other thematic spaces are articulated with these, or shown in parallel (loves and heartbreaks; models and values; Who am I? Portraits; Concepción Arenal activist, its causes). Parallel to this biographical tour, images of the Spain of the time are shown, which contextualize the experiences and activities of Arenal.
Therefore, the first goal of the exhibition is to highlight the figure of this great thinker unknown to the Spanish public. Make both the person and her contributions close. Make Arenal see as a woman moved by an intense passion to know, to understand and to contribute to the improvement of her world. Passionate in her affections and disaffections, she was distant in conventional relationships, but warm with her own and compassionate with the most disadvantaged.
This approach requires introducing the viewer to the environments in which she lived and, as far as possible, to the joys, sorrows, learnings, achievements and frustrations that they meant for her. The exhibition through visual, installation and audiovisual resources allows the viewer to bring her life, her vicissitudes, her values and her searches closer to the viewer.
The exhibition is structured in eight biographical spaces (Ferrol, Armano, Madrid, Potes, Coruña, Madrid, Gijón, Vigo) in which she lived, thought, wrote, loved and repaired texts, manuscripts, objects and images linked to her life. Four other thematic spaces are articulated with these, or shown in parallel (loves and heartbreaks; models and values; Who am I? Portraits; Concepción Arenal activist, its causes). Parallel to this biographical tour, images of the Spain of the time are shown, which contextualize the experiences and activities of Arenal.
