The Ministry for Equality has announced the launch of a Street Art Competition with the theme “Inspiring Women”.

The purpose of this competition, which forms part of the Ministry of Equality’s Gender Equality Strategy, is to raise the profile and visibility of women, who are traditionally under- represented in many sectors of society, and to raise awareness of the role of women in society.

The chosen theme is purposefully broad. The aim is for entries to depict a particular woman or women, with a Gibraltar connection, who through their endeavours and accomplishments have inspired and will continue to inspire others in the future. The art design can feature a more generic representation of a woman or women, but the ultimate purpose will be to inspire women.

The winning entry will be selected by a panel from the Ministry of Equality and will feature on a mural in Gibraltar. The Ministry says that a mural painting, as a permanent visual depiction and in the context of this competition, will provide a “powerful and constant reminder of shared cultural values in Gibraltar.”

The competition is a collaboration with the Ministry of Heritage and the Ministry of Culture and will be managed by Gibraltar Cultural Services. The Government says this is another good example of the cross departmental/agency partnerships developed by the Ministry of Equality for the implementation of Government initiatives.

The Minister for Equality, Samantha Sacramento, said: “It is our aim to raise the profile of women in Gibraltar in order to redress the historical and current lack of representation of women. This initiative forms part of the Ministry’s Gender Equality Strategy which aims to challenge gender stereotypes and effect social change. A competition like this serves a number of purposes: the intention is for local artists to commemorate local women’s achievements and for the end product, a painted mural, to acknowledge the central role played by women in our community. There can be no doubt that tackling the under-representation of women in our community will have a positive effect socially. Greater gender balance and more inclusion will, hopefully, be a positive outcome of our Gender Equality strategy.”

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