March of women: the feminist lens of the Women in the Shadows series in Barcelona libraries

Rethinking the past through a feminist lens. That is the aim of the various activities the city is offering this March, as every year dedicated to women. One example is Women in the Shadows, held in the city’s libraries from 2 to 26 March 2026, with talks always taking place at 18:30.

Women in the Shadows series

Through lectures, talks and meetings with specialists, the programme invites people to revisit history from a more inclusive perspective. Women writers, scientists, artists, activists and explorers form part of a journey seeking to recover forgotten names and experiences.

The central aim of Women in the Shadows is to revisit history with a critical eye. Over the centuries, many women contributed to social, cultural or scientific progress, but their names were relegated to the background.

The activities scheduled in the Biblioteques de Barcelona network seek precisely to correct that absence. Each session addresses a different field —from literature to science or exploration— and is led by researchers, historians and specialists who have spent years studying these trajectories.

This type of proposal allows the public to discover little-known stories and better understand how historical narratives featuring women are constructed. It also invites reflection on why certain figures were made invisible and what it means to recover them today.

Women in the Civil War and social history

One of the first meetings in the Women in the Shadows series is devoted to the role of women during the Spanish Civil War. For decades, these episodes barely appeared in the most widespread historical accounts. However, recent research has documented the active presence of many women in the conflict. These talks help to better understand the period’s complexity and recognise the leading role of those who took part from different positions.

Women writers who concealed their identity

Such talks have explored, for example, the case of Caterina Albert, who used the pseudonym Víctor Català to write and was one of the most important authors in Catalan literature. Similar situations occurred in other European contexts, where women writers had to adapt to social norms that restricted their public visibility. Reflecting on these strategies helps us better understand the difficulties many women creators faced in developing their work.

Science, art and music with women’s names

The series also devotes several sessions to women’s contributions in fields such as science, art and music. Among the figures mentioned is scientist Rosalind Franklin. In the artistic sphere, it recovers the careers of creators such as Artemisia Gentileschi and Camille Claudel, artists whose talent was recognised late.

Classical music is not left out either. Composers such as Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann stand out; they had notable careers in their time but for years were overshadowed by better-known male figures.

Explorers, activists and new perspectives

The Women in the Shadows programme is completed by talks devoted to 19th-century women explorers who travelled the Nile, on Friday 13 March at Biblioteca Montserrat Abelló; on Tuesday 17 March at Biblioteca San Pablo – Santa Cruz, to Palestinian women writers who use literature as a form of resistance; and to environmental activists who have defended the planet in different parts of the world, on Monday 23 March at Biblioteca Ignasi Iglésias - Can Fabra.

Meetings are also included on pioneering women filmmakers left out of the official history of the seventh art: on Thursday 26 March at Biblioteca Nou Barris – Aura Díaz Plaja. These spaces for dialogue make it possible to rethink how cultural narratives have been built and who has been left out of them.