Women of Water

On some latitudes of our planet, the title of this exhibition is part of the popular imagination. Women, fairies, who carry life with water, and from water extract prosperity.

In the driest parts of Africa, millions of fairies walk across their territories every day for three, four, five hours or more, carrying cans that weigh 30 kilos of life, 30 liters of water. The smallest fairies, aged just 5 or 6, can only carry 10 kilos of life, of water, and they have no time to go to school. In contrast to the legend, many African women do not have pure, crystal-clear water, but murky and contaminated water.

In developing countries, in addition to the lack of water infrastructure, the political and military use of water and the pollution of rivers and lakes, there are now the consequences of global climate change – largely caused by emissions from developed countries. These consequences stop 800 million people in the world having access to drinking water (330 million in Sub-Saharan Africa) – a question of life or death for much of the world’s population.

Women of Water explores water issues in Sub-Saharan Africa, but it also wants to emphasize the firm struggle of the women of Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mauritania, the protagonists of this exhibition, to get safe and accessible water, which opens the doors to education, health and economic development.

Because we, men and women from North and South, global citizens aware of our responsibilities, must also advance to achieving rational and fair management of the planet’s resources, ensuring a dignified life for all its inhabitants.