On monday, a group of girls, teenagers, and adult women are participating in a collective workshop in Guadalajara, western Mexico, to design the urban spaces they consider necessary for living in the city safely and with dignity. The initiative, led by Mexican artist Alejandra Ruiz Rincón, questions how much of women’s needs have been left out of urban design.
RELATED:
Mexican Cinema Challenges Hollywood Narratives with Humor and Identity
The workshop is part of an artist residency and is being held at the Museum of the Arts of Guadalajara. Entitled “The City of Ladies,” the project takes as its reference point the book of the same name written in 1405 by the Italian philosopher Christine de Pizan, who envisioned spaces built to recognize and protect the memory of women.
During the workshop, the participants move beyond being spectators and become directly involved in the creative process. The result is the construction of scale cardboard models of buildings, parks, and public spaces they would like to frequent. Well-lit streets, women’s health clinics, safe spaces on public transportation, parks for walks with loved ones, and shelters for victims of violence are among the proposals.
“A recurring theme is safety. They are all looking for safe spaces, free from harassment, free from violence, and above all, where they can live normally; public transportation where they can be free from harassment, and also access to healthcare and culture,” Ruiz Rincón told EFE.
The artist pointed out that the participants express through art the rights that the city has denied them and the needs of a sector of the population that remain unmet.
¿Y si construyéramos una ciudad para la memoria de las mujeres?
La residencia artística de este año ya comenzó en el MUSA y la artista Alejandra Ruiz Rincón lo hace con La ciudad de las damashttps://t.co/eAJyoLLXva
— EL OCCIDENTAL (@ELOCCIDENTAL) August 16, 2026
The text reads: “What if we built a city dedicated to the memory of women? This year’s artist residency has already begun at MUSA, and artist Alejandra Ruiz Rincón is leading it with “The City of Ladies.”
“It’s a reality that there are unmet needs, like public transportation, which is a daily reality for all women when we have to leave home. Art always responds to what is happening (in society),” the visual artist stated. Ruiz Rincón indicated that the models highlight green spaces, gyms, clinics specializing in women’s health, and dignified housing projects. “That surprised me; I wasn’t expecting it,” she acknowledged.
An Exhibition Open to Dialogue
With the works created in the workshop, the artist will form a large-scale city that will be on display starting September 3 at the Musa Museum, inviting the public to engage with the participatory piece and reflect on what the city offers.
In addition, attendees will be able to hear the voices of the women who created the models, with the intention of learning firsthand about their needs. “You’ll be able to hear their testimonies, and it’s also a way to empower them, to show them that it’s not something abstract, that there’s a person behind each piece in this city,” Ruiz Rincón concluded.
The project addresses themes such as caregiving, parenting, security, and professional development—dimensions that have historically been omitted from the urban planning of Mexican cities.
#Mexico | Poet, chronicler and essayist Vicente Quirarte Castañeda passed away at 72, after a career spanning poetry, essays, theater, and literary criticism. His passing was confirmed by academic and cultural institutions and by his niece, Anabel Quirartehttps://t.co/epb4xBXlvr
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) August 13, 2026
From teleSUR English via This RSS Feed.