‘Womankind’ (Mujermanidad) is a long-term project consisting of several series of digital photo collages, aimed at creating a fictional archive of women's history. To achieve this, the project is based on an exhaustive and constant documentation process, where the work undergoes a "post-production" phase. The result of this research is the compilation of numerous unindexed images from illustrated magazines, old books, advertisements, posters, and the web.
In the work of María María Acha-Kutscher, there is a re-signification of the images that have shaped women's history since the invention of photography, where women have typically been relegated to the background in dominant narratives. In her collages, Acha-Kutscher rescues a female historical memory, reflecting both their political struggles and the complexity of their private world. The series within the project are set between two of the most significant moments in women's history: the British suffrage movement of the early 20th century and the mass introduction of the contraceptive pill in the 1960s, both of which greatly contributed to women's emancipation and transformed their relationships with men.
The exhibition at the Centro Cultural La Malagueta gathers all the series from Acha-Kutscher's project since its inception in 2010. It features over 500 images in various formats, some displayed as polyptychs, large vinyl prints, and a video from the '365 Days' series (2012).
In the series ‘Machine’ (2020), the artist uses propaganda images from the First and Second World Wars to reflect on the role of women in those conflicts. In ‘Todas mis sangres’ (2023), she employs her own family's photo album to address themes such as identity, racism, and migration. Also with autobiographical elements, in ‘Recuerdo las noches cuando solía dormir’ (2023), the artist connects her personal experience of menopause and insomnia in a polyptych composed of 30 pieces. Related to that series, the 55-piece polyptych ‘Lleva años llenar una cabeza de hebras plateadas’ is also exhibited, which speaks about embracing gray hair as an act of reclaiming the natural. This work juxtaposes paintings of XVIII century women wearing white wigs with 1960s advertisements for gray hair products.
The video ‘365 días’ (2024) compiles 365 digital collages created over the course of a year as a diary. It is a digital version of the original 2012 installation. With the series ‘Les Spectaculaires’ (2012), the artist dignifies difference through 10 portraits of women who were exhibited as human oddities in circuses at the beginning of the last century and managed to survive by objectifying their bodies. Created during the pandemic, ‘Monuments,’ ‘Saudade,’ and ‘Persévérence’ (2020) respond to a moment of uncertainty when the world seemed to have come to a standstill and we were observing it from confinement. The exhibition also features more dreamlike series such as ‘Maybe’ (2015), ‘Flying’ (2015), ‘Colossus’ (2015), and ‘Walking, Waiting, Wind’ (2023).
