Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have the honor to address you tonight at the closing ceremony of the eighth edition of the Festival of Feminist Culture and Action – Firstborn yet Female. I am pleased that, indeed, I am part of this event which continuously contributes to the promotion of gender equality and feminist values in our society which, unfortunately, has no tradition of cultural and activist practices of such type.
These months we are facing the huge challenge – to deal with the biggest health crisis in this century, which has seriously affected all spheres of society and changed our lives. The pandemic has contributed to the deepening of existing inequalities in different areas and at different levels and has shown us how important it is to work on building a better world, communities in which equality, care, respect, solidarity will be our guiding principles, otherwise principles that are also at the core of feminism and the gender and social justice movements.
I am especially glad that today I am attending a festival that is part of the independent cultural scene in our country. A festival that offers progressive cultural policies and focuses on feminist values and gender equality, women and women in art and cultural production, and critically examines our social context, policies and, consequently, the distribution of power in society.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Gender equality is an important commitment in my term and with my actions I want to contribute to the advancement of gender policies in the country. I want my presence at this event to be understood as a support to the commitment of the organizers and all cultural workers, artists, activists and theorists who for years have contributed to the development of our independent cultural scene and promoted women’s cultural and artistic creation.
It is indisputable that as a society we still have a lot to do to promote gender equality in the cultural sphere and, of course, in other segments. But I am convinced that such cultural events help to rethink the existing concepts, to produce new ideas, visions and spaces for action. Any such activity leads to positive changes, to a better society, to the promotion of gender equality and the enrichment of cultural production in the country and the region.
To conclude with, since I am informed of the contents and events that you have organized in the past few days, I would like to congratulate you on this extraordinary festival edition of Firstborn yet Female.
Let it live long!
Thank you.
