Religious Affairs Office

It aims to showcase and evaluate the role of women in the various religious and spiritual convictions, beliefs and traditions. On 7 and 8 October of 2021, the Office for Religious Affairs (OAR) and the Reial Monestir de Santa Maria de Pedralbes held the first edition of the "Fe(r) i dones” workshops. This edition was moderated by Txell Bonet and curated by Montse Castellà i Olivé. Those taking part included renowned thinkers, experts in the study of their traditions and also in reflecting on the role and value of women in that context. The themes addressed in 2021 were texts, rituals and transmission, focusing on how sacred texts, ritual practices and religious and spiritual transmission are understood and experienced from the varied perspectives of women in a variety of traditions.

The “Fe(r) i Dones” workshop, the result of various collaborations between the Reial Monestir de Pedralbes and the Office for Religious Affairs (OAR) and seeks to explore the relationship between women and spirituality, fostering dialogue and providing recognition for feminine reality, often rendered invisible within the religious traditions concerned. The event, lasting two days, have demonstrated the desire to establish and look more in-depth at the relationships and connections between different women, promote dialogue, exchange and mutual learning and recognition of the female universe and reality within a religious and spiritual context, which appears to be progressively disappearing. The first edition of this event sought to serve as a first step in this direction, with various participants of the different activities having expressed their desire to make this a regular event.

The design of the workshops aimed to reflect this female perspective and desire for collective construction, where all voices count. Montse Castellà i Olivé, the curator of this year’s workshops stated that “most religious and spiritual traditions arose as part of patriarchal societies, and the role and value of women have been made invisible“. She went on to add that “for a tradition to remain alive and continue to inspire, it must be in movement, it must adapt to the times. This means that applying a gender perspective is important“. In her words, the aim of these workshops was to “analyse the noise being made, what doesn’t fit in”. However, she was also eager to point out that simply having this space, bringing together women from different backgrounds, is valuable in itself. “There is no need to come to a specific conclusion or declaration, what is important is that it serves as a space for sharing experience“.

MAYOR’S PRESENCE:

Txell Bonet, journalist and leader of the workshops kicked off the events, and referring to women, launched a message: “Today, you take the floor“. Barcelona mayor Ada Colau was present as part of the institutional start of the workshops, meeting and exchanging experiences with a number of participants. Colau used to occasion to assert that “these workshops aim to increase the visibility of what women from different beliefs and religions have to offer. Our city is plural and diverse, and we are really happy that it is“. Furthermore, she stated that “incorporating a cross-cutting, female perspective is also the responsibility of the City Council and the general public” asserting that the workshops “will help Barcelona to make progress towards becoming an intercultural, fair and feminist city“.

ACTIVITIES FOR EVERYONE:

Over the course of the two days, different activities were organised that combined spaces of reflection with more participative, experimental activities, without forgetting about the performing arts.

On Thursday 7 October, REFLECTION PANELS were held with a view to offering a space to women with different beliefs from the city to debate and reflect, together, around the three core topics of this year’s event: texts, rituals and transmission. The three leaders, Neus Forcano, Sofia Bengoetxea and Chinmayi Ma, reported on the high quality of all contributions made, in addition to the energy, drive and eagerness of participants. As stated by participants, we are experiencing a time of general boldness amongst women who are willing to express themselves and make themselves heard, which was summed up with the Hebrew word khutspa. The reflections made during these workshops served as the basis for the following day’s debate topics.

Another of the most notable activities were the WORKSHOPS, providing attendees with first-hand experience, including specific examples, of interpreting sacred texts, ritual practices and music as a means of transmitting faith by means of some specific practices. The Claraboies hall at Monestir de Pedralbes played host to the “Text reading and interpretation” workshop, at which Yaratullah Monturiol analysed and shared reflections and methods with those in attendance. At the Procures space, those in attendance were able to reflect first hand in the workshop entitled “The art of rituals“, led by María Prieto i Manzanares, who recovered the original meaning of rituals and explained the need to refrain from automating them and regarding them from a place of consciousness. At the same time, in the Refetor space, Abidemi Adebayo-Adenagbe and Dora Okereka, members of the 1st African Gospel Choir, held the workshop entitled “Transmission through song and music“, providing an example of gospel singing and its meaning to the community with the force of their voices and the deep meaning of their music. At the same time, there was a GUIDED VISIT entitled “Pedralbes, a powerful female landscape”, at which emphasis was drawn to the value of the women who have resided at Monestir de Pedralbes over the course of history.

On Friday 8 October, the main event of the “Fe(r) i Dones” workshops took place, in the form of the REFLECTIONS AND DIALOGUE round table, under the title “Reading, doing and transmitting with women at the core”, which was streamed live and can be watched here. The event was hosted by Lama Guelongma Tsondru, Teresa Forcades i Vila and Asma Lamrabet. These three women, linked to different traditions, discussed this year’s conference themes based on the contributions made the day before and shared their own knowledge, reflections and experiences. They drew attention, in addition to other factors, to the importance of women’s access to sacred knowledge and texts. To this end, Lama Guelongma Tsondru stated: “A number of years ago, I came to know the Therigatha, a series of spiritual, mystical songs about women created by disciples from the time of Buddha. Despite their importance, not everybody has access to them.” Asma Lamrabet reflected on the interpretative tradition of the Quran, which, she stated, in the 13th and 14th centuries was interpreted from a human, plural stance, as part of which different perspectives were recognised. “From the 12th century onwards, there was a period of decadence in Islamic thought and this created confusion. It is impossible to know who was speaking, whether the Quran, the hadiz (the tradition of the Prophet), or laypeople, who formed a clergy. In Islam, there was no clergy, but it was constructed, this clergy rose up as they understood that knowledge was power.” As part of the discussion, emphasis was also placed on the importance of the action of women to bring about change, both inside and outside religious spaces. According to Teresa Forcades, changes not only come from above, rather the bases of traditions must also be involved. “It is not a good strategy to think that everything has to be achieved by transforming tradition”, we must also consider the need to transform society.

The workshops came to an end with a CONCERT and READING OF TEXTS led by the musical duet Tarta Relena and actress and writer Marta Millà. The three artists invoked this spiritual transmission through music and word, while recalling and emphasising the importance of noteworthy female figures. Marta Millà read texts by Râbia’ al-‘Adawiyya, Mahvash Sabet, Amma and Silvia Odtertag. These readings were accompanied by the music and serenity of Tarta Relena with the songs ‘Imperairitz de la ciutat juyosa’, from Llibre Vermell de Montserrat, ‘Nunc Aperuit‘, from Hildegarda de Bingen, the popular Sephardic song ‘You Lofty Mountains‘ and to finish off ‘El suïcidi i el cant‘, composed by Pashto women from Afghanistan. The cloister at Monestir de Pedralbes, an ideal space to reflect and rethink with women at the core, was the ideal framework for the inspirational first edition of the “Fe(r) i Dones” workshop.