No beach for us today as we’re on the road again and off to visit Santiago de Compostela. Firstly, a quick history lesson regarding the importance of Santiago to Christians. They believe that Santiago Apóstol (St James the Apostle, one of Jesus’ closest disciples) who preached in Galicia and, after his death in Palestine, was brought back by boat and buried in the City. The tomb was rediscovered in 820 AD by a religious hermit who followed a guiding star (the name Compostela comes from the Latin campus stellae, field of the star).
But before we go and explore the old quarter of the city and its iconic cathedral we visit the Galego Centre for Contemporary Art to view an exhibition by The Guerrilla Girls. They’re an anonymous artists’ collective dedicated to feminist activism that originated in New York in 1985. One of their first questions asked in 1989, was ‘Do women have to be naked to get into the Metropolitan Museum of Art?’ The collective realized that less than 5% of the artists exhibiting in the Modern Arts section are women, but that 85% of the nudes exhibited are female.
Known for using gorilla masks to cover their faces, the group members take on the names of famous dead women artists like Frida Kahlo, Eva Hesse, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gertrude Stein and Georgia O’Keeffe, concealing their own identities from the world and promoting the achievements of the women artists whose names they have taken on. The Guerrilla Girls use facts, humour and images that are designed to grab the attention of the viewer in order to expose sexism, racism and corruption in the visual arts, film and culture in general. These are exhibited in chronological order and they’re strong reminders of the journey female artists have been navigating across the years.
It’s a powerful exhibition that reminds us that sadly despite a recognition of discrimination in the arts the Guerrilla girls message is just as powerful and meaningful today as it was when they first came to prominence in the mid 1980’s. The exhibiton reminds of the importance of speaking out when we see discrimination. We leave the exhibition and head for lunch at a restuarant close to the City’s excellent food market.
After lunch, we take a walk through the City and meander along the narrow historic streets headed for the enormous cathedral that dominates Santiago for so many different reasons. As we walk across the square a constant stream of pilgrims flow in, eager to conclude their Camino pilgrimage of the Way of St James or commence their walk bound for Fisterra. We venture inside the magnificent cathedral filled with pilgrims praying for a successful Camino or giving thanks for having successfully completely their walk. Construction of the great Santiago de Compostela Cathedral began in the 11th century when Alfonso the Sixteenth was King of Spain. At the beginning of the 12th century, the architect Esteban constructed three naves that resemble a large Latin cross. Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque in style, the cathedral that houses the mortal remains of the Apostle is the most famous pilgrimage site in Spain. We walk back to the car reflecting on our contrasting day in this iconic city.
Leave a Reply