"Women in Urban and Rural Areas" - Traveling Documentary Photo Exhibition

     The Gender Alternatives Foundation launches its first artistic project "Women in Urban and Rural Areas - an Overview of Their Role in Society". The project is part of the cultural program of Plovdiv European Capital of Culture 2019 and is co-funded by "Plovdiv 2019" Municipal Foundation under the program "Community Centers (Chitalista) - Community Participation and Innovation".
     The initiative aims to organize a traveling exhibition in five regions of Bulgaria - Plovdiv, Pazardjik, Smolyan, Kardzhali, Haskovo in the period 09.2018 – 02.2019. It will visualize the everyday life of Bulgarian women, promote their localities and provoke a discussion about the role of women in society.

     Through the power of photography and oral history techniques, the project aims to construct alternative (her)stories by women who are traditionally deprived of such – women from rural areas, poor women, minority women, elderly women and women with disabilities. It will also seek to capture of women who are leaders in their communities. Thus, “Women in urban and rural areas” exhibition will give voice to women’s individual perspectives and experiences on socially important themes such as "education", "work", "culture", "family". By constructing a new "collective memory" and understanding, we will question what is historically important and provoke and encourage local discussions about the (traditional) role of women in our society - what is visible and what not, who are the "heroes of the day" and how they move society.
     By involving a large number of community centers, local people will have free access to cultural content, inspired by representatives of these communities and areas. The exhibition will be carried out in partnership with five community centers in the five regions of Bulgaria – “Aleko Konstantinov – 1954” – Plovdiv city, “Maritsa – 2008” - Raynovo village, “Orpheus Forest – 1870” – Smolyan city, “Yumer Lutvi 1993” – Kardzhali city, "Vazrazhdane-1926"  - Karabunar village.