Canary Islands Tackles Cultural Gender Gap, Launches Women's Directory

The Government of the Canary Islands recently organized two events to address the challenges faced by women working in the cultural sector. The aim was to find solutions and listen to concerns about the gender gap and "glass ceilings" within the islands' cultural scene.

The morning event was a "Meeting of Women Audiovisual Professionals," which focused on the role of female creators in the islands' important audiovisual industry. In the afternoon, the "Directory of Women in Culture of the Canary Islands" was launched. This new tool aims to showcase the talent of female artists and managers across the islands. Representatives from music, literature, visual arts, and cultural management attended, agreeing that the directory will serve as "a shared compass" to build new connections and foster recognition among women in culture.

Migadalia Machín, the Canary Islands' Minister of Culture, stressed that this initiative was created to encourage collaboration among cultural professionals and to highlight their work. She added that it is "here to stay."

Cultural journalist Malole Delgado moderated the debate. She guided discussions on structural inequality and highlighted proposals and demands from the cultural sector itself on how to combat sexism in the field.

The panel included:

• Rosa Escrig, director, writer, producer at La Escrig Producciones, and vice-president of the Réplica Performing Arts Association.
• Cristina Déniz, visual artist, exhibition curator, cultural manager, conservator at CAAM, and representative of the MAV association (Women in Visual Arts) in the Canary Islands.
• Nuria Hernández, artist, composer, director, artistic producer, and president of the Canary Music Cluster.

Following the detailed discussions, a question-and-answer session allowed attendees to share their experiences in the cultural sector. Many highlighted the particularly tough challenges faced by female creators from the smaller, non-capital islands.