LABoral Centro de Arte and Amdas La Fonte present ‘Rosas y Espinas’, an artistic and social project on the life experience of women with disability
Amdas La Fonte is an Asturian collective made up by 260 women with some sort of disability. ‘Rosas y Espinas’ is aimed at making this group of population visible using the potential of art and the creative processes for social integration and development. Thanks to this project, LABoral has become the first Spanish Art Centre to join the programme Los Imprescindibles of Obra Social “La Caixa”, the entity that funds this project that recognises the commitment of certain entities to improve the life of the disadvantaged.
Presentation 'Rosas y espinas'
LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial and the non-profit organisation Amdas La Fonte -an Asturian collective made up by 260 women with some sort of disability- presented this morning the art project, Rosas y Espinas. Obra Social “La Caixa” funds this project with the participation of the artists Juanjo Palacios, Javier Suárez Quirós and Elena de la Puente.
Rosas y Espinas is an initiative to enhance the social and integrating function of art, and its potential for the development and welfare of people. It started out last February with the purpose of showing the life experience of women with disability. It is aimed at making this collective visible and transforming its social and cultural image with the purpose of eliminating stereotypes related with gender and disability. Moreover, this project connects art with this group of women as a key tool for expression, reflection and citizen participation.
The work presented today consists of an audiovisual map based on new technologies, from an artistic standpoint, to highlight the barriers and limitations that women with disability have to overcome in the city of Gijon. 65 locations in the city have been geo-located and analysed from a functional and creative perspective, as they represent the lights and shadows that people with disability have to face on a daily basis. According to Sila Murillo, president of Amdas La Fonte, “a map full of warnings, experiences and tips, non-sense and advancements, full of roses and thorns”.
Thanks to Rosas y Espinas, LABoral has been the only Spanish Art Centre selected for the programme Los Imprescindibles of Obra Social La Caixa that recognises the effort of some entities to improve people's lives and gathers well-known entities like Cáritas, Banco de Alimentos, Unicef and Save The Children, among others. Thus, Rosas y Espinas may be chosen to be included in the annual calendar, as well as in the advertising spot of Obra Social La Caixa.
Archive of experiences and personal map
The map developed in this project points out locations in Gijon that are interesting for this collective, provides information on these places and their degree of accessibility, and it may be used to create a personal map. Participants can explain what is their everyday life, not only regarding accessibility limitations, but also regarding their personal activities and projects.
This work includes an audiovisual repository of the presentations and walks carried out along the last months providing information on accessibility in addition to being an archive of experiences and a platform to share them. This project also includes a web site specifically designed to host maps and pictures using tools to document the whole process and its results.
Amdas La Fonte is a non-profit organisation created on July 25, 2001, by a group of women with various disabilities highly concerned about the various problems that affect women and girls living in the Principality of Asturias.
