Watching, listening or simply going for a walk. These are three ways in which you can not only celebrate International Women’s Day, but also discover new aspects of the city and the world that you may not even know about. All this is organised by the city’s Network of Civic Centres which, this March, is focusing its attention on the world of females.

First of all, let’s have a conversation about some of the topics that are of special interest to women. In the cycle organised by the city’s civic and cultural centres, you’ll find proposals that talk about a famous writer as well as about health rights during pregnancy, birth and postpartum (4 March at the Centre Cívic Vallvidrera – Vázquez Montalbán), or talk about the way in which history has made women invisible (the same day at the Centre Cívic Can Castelló). In these workshops, you will be able to talk about romantic love and sex (Centre Cívic l’Elèctric; 6 March) or about how women have been educated throughout history (6 March, Can Deu Civic Centre) or about different aspects of the life of women in ancient Greece ((12 March, at the Centre Cívic Can Verdaguer) or you will learn about the passionate and little-known lives of women like Clara Wiech-Schumann (5 March at the Centre Cívic Cotxeres Borrell), the French improviser and composer Hélène de Montgeroult (19 March, at the Centre Cívic Cotxeres Borrell) or even a current pop star like Britney Spears, among others (14 March, at the Centre Cívic Albareda). Take a good look at the programme, as there are some very interesting quotes about women in Ptolemaic times or during prehistoric times, as well as talks on the role of women in classic cinema.

Spaces such as the Centre Cívic El Coll – La Bruguera dedicate their own cycles to the theme (aDONA’t. Desfem el nus: repensem els vincles), throughout the month of March, with exhibitions, health proposals or workshops, shows in the Barcelona Districte Cultural cycle, among many other proposals.

Women who walk

But they will not only talk about women and their role in history in a conference room. They will also do it on the move, while you walk around the city and they will explain some things you might not know. Thus, the Barcelona Civic Centre Network has prepared nine itineraries that claim the role of women throughout the history of Barcelona. Some, such as the one organised by the Pati Llimona Civic Centre on 5 March, will take you through the Barcelona of the Civil War in the company of the militia women who took part in it; others, such as the Dona et labora route (9 March, organised by the Pere Pruna Civic Centre) will talk about the trades that women carried out in the city in times gone by; some others, like the one organised by the Centre Cívic Vallvidrera – Vázquez Montalbán, go around the Raval area where the author was born and present a whole range of popular characters, from the chocolate-makers Garriga and the dentist Marieta to the women of the Casa de Maternitat i Expòsits (12 March). At the Sagrada Família Civic Centre they take you on 22 March to retrace the scenes of the feminist mobilisations at the beginning of the century and, finally, at the Bon Pastor Civic Centre on 20 March, they propose a walk to meet women like the bugadesses of Horta, but also the abbess Margarida, Paula (considered one of the first “marriage agencies”) or the saint and martyr Eulàlia.

Without leaving a civic centre, you can enjoy all the arts, or almost all of them, in a woman’s way. Sign up and you will be able to see films that have to do with this topic, such as Hidden Figures (Tomasa Cuevas Civic Centre – Les Corts; 6 March) or Bitter Rice (Joan Oliver Civic Centre – Pere Quart; 13 March), but also theatrical performances, including Tot és veritat (Tomas Cuevas Civic Centre – Les Corts; 7 March), the female humour of the Monòlegs d’humor (Torre Llobeta Civic Centre; 15 March). 

A bit of music? There are many proposals, but perhaps one of the most spectacular will be Tot allò allò que no vam dir (Centre Cívic Ateneu Fort Pienc; 8 March), with an evening of concerts by women and an act by the Col-lectiu Feminista de l’ESMUC. Attention, a symphony orchestra and a choir made up exclusively of women will be performing here. In total, more than a hundred people will be on stage. Concerts by Olga Ozet (Sant Andreu Civic Centre, on 16 March) and the duet Paula Piñero & Sandra Kellan (El Carmel Civic Centre; 20 March) are some of the other events of great interest.

Likewise, this month the civic centres are hosting many exhibitions that either show the work of women who take photographs, such as Mey Caro, Mary Franquet, Llum Garcia, Montse J. Sorribes and Nurya Khano, among others, or talk about women who remain hidden, such as the pictorial exhibition “La dona, llums i ombres” (“Women, lights and shadows”), at the Centre Cívic Cotxeres de Sants (until 16 March). Other exhibitions show the role of women in the study of geology (“Geologia en femení,” at the Centre Cívic l’Elèctric, until 16 March); or portray in illustrations the life of women in the neighbourhood, as the artist Rita Hervás does at the Centre Cívic Zona Nord until 2 April. Visit the Sant Andreu Civic Centre, the Barceloneta Civic Centre and the Teixonera Civic Centre, among others, and you’ll find many more exhibitions, with the world of women as a protagonist.

If you want to take a closer look at the proposals of the Barcelona Civic Centre Network to celebrate International Women’s Day, check the website, where you will find all the information.