Efforts on the promotion of the equal share of opportunities for women in the European cultural arena are still not enough, concludes a new report published by the Wom@rts Project today.
Aimed to reduce the significant lack of data on the participation of women as agents and also as consumers in the European cultural life, the new report gathers a wide range of legal documents, directives, programmes and scientific studies on the promotion of equality in the CCI’s between 2000 and 2017, and analyses them in order to identify urgent scenarios to take action. It also drafts a list of measures, which could be implemented by European authorities, and several target groups (from civil society to decision-makers) for changing the current situation.
Coordinated by Auditorio de Galicia, the lead partner of the Wom@rts project, with the support of the Creative Europe Programme, the report offers a cross-sectorial diagnosis, which covers all the subsectors of the Cultural and Creative Industries, and address both traditional and digital scenarios.
Thus, the so-called State of the Arts Report about the situation of women artists and professionals in the Cultural and Creative Industries sector in Europe, elaborated throughout 2018, seeks to present a full picture of the presence of women in the European Cultural arena, offers a view of some existing networks an associations which try to give a mayor voice to women in Arts and Culture, a non-exhaustive but inspiring list of Good Practices from different scopes and geographical origins, and some arguments to promote change with a series of recommendations.
It concludes that despite the legislative efforts developed by European Union, the existing general statistics show that women are clearly and shamefully underrepresented in the vast majority of the subsectors of the CCIs and in cultural life.
The report’s release comes as lead UK partner, Hay Festival, prepares to release its Europa28 project, bringing together women writers, artists, scientists and entrepreneurs – one from each of the 27 EU member countries, plus the UK – to deliver their visions for the future of Europe in a new anthology out 12 March and new Festival in Rijeka, Croatia, 3-5 June.
Cristina Fuentes La Roche, international director at Hay Festival, said: “Today’s report from the Wom@rts project indicates just how much work needs to be done to redress the gender balance in the Arts across the EU. Within this context, we are delighted to see our Europa28 project come to fruition, bringing together a multi-disciplinary selection of some of the best minds of our time to imagine a better future for the continent.”
View the report in full here.