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The Convenient Per-Cent. Equity and Gender

Debate

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tranzit.ro/ București and Sofia Nădejde Awards for Literature Written by Women organize the debate The Convenient Per-Cent. Equity and Gender.

23 March 2019, from 4 pm

tranzit.ro/ București
44 Gazelei St., sector 4

Participants: Anca Bucur, Anca Dumitrescu, Carmen Mușat, Crina Mureșanu, Cristian Iftode, Cristina Modreanu, Dana Andrei, Elena Marcu, Fatma Yilmaz, Flavia Dima, Iulia Popovici, Laura Sandu, Liliana Basarab, Magda Cîrneci, Magda Radu, Nicoleta Moise, Nona Șerbănescu, Oana Băluță, Ovidiu Anemțoaicei, Ovidiu Pop, Tudorina Mihai, Veronica Lazăr.

Moderators: Elena Vlădăreanu (Sofia Nădejde Awards project) and Raluca Voinea (tranzit.ro/ București)

In the past years, the Romanian cultural milieu has started, with a delay calculated in decades compared to the European one, to show some openness towards the feminist stakes, questioning the absence or the vague representation of women in more of the essential domains, such as the educational one (lack of women writers from the schoolbooks), the artistic (the issue of literary and artistic awards, the presence of women in leadership positions) or the scientific one.

Many of the questionings or attempts to bring this topic to public debate have raised hot polemics (when they were not greeted with virulent reactions). One simple question, why are women not enough represented in the cultural, academic, scientific fields in Romania, was answered with another question: “What per cent of representation would be satisfactory for you?!”

The shock of receiving such a reaction from people we believed to be on the same side of the barricade made us realize things are not clear as daylight for everyone, that we still live in different worlds and we have yet to affirm some principles we believed were self-evident. We invite you to reflect on these topics together with a series of guests from different cultural and academic fields. How much of this discussion is about gender and how much is it about power? Was the socialist society more egalitarian, in reality, not in discourse, than the one we are currently living in? Do we accept non-discrimination (of any kind) only when it is imposed from outside? Do we really believe things can change without political will, activism and insistence?

The Sofia Nădejde Awards for Literature Written by Women is an independent initiative, which aims to create a platform for debate regarding the place of women in the cultural field, with a focus on the literary one. The Sofia Nădejde Awards were given for the first time in December 2018, within an event organised by Art No More Association and co-financed by Fundația9.

For more information about The Convenient Per-Cent. Equity and Gender debate, email Raluca Voinea at raluca.voinea@tranzit.org or click here.

ERSTE Foundation is the main partner of tranzit.ro.

Visual concept: Liliana Basarab, "The Rules... (Homage to Geta Brătescu)", 2019, textile collage, 20x50 cm, courtesy of the artist