Verónica Werckmeister

Puertas (Doors)

Spain, various locations //2018

I was invited to participate in this important project that focussed on gender violence. In 2018, 47 women were murdered by their husbands, partners, and exes. As the year progressed each artist was notified when a new crime had been committed. The artists were given the news reports and public information relating to the crime and a door. The door was then painted by the artist and a travelling exhibition was created to bring visibility and denounce this social scourge.

My particular door represents a crime committed in my own city in April of 2018. A woman (María José) and her mother were murdered by the woman´s ex-husband, leaving two children orphaned. With my contribution to the project I wanted to suggest the possiblity that an appropriate reaction to this situation would be to create an army of women to fight back, change the tide, where these types of crimes would be highly unusual and not part of our day to day.
By the end of the year 47 doors were created by 47 multidisciplinary artists and the doors were exhibited in numerous locations in Spain.