European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel has launched an online exhibition series featuring trailblazing women in the arts and science.
The “Pioneers: Trailblazing women in the arts, sciences and society” series will be produced in close collaboration with Europeana, the digital platform which curates and preserves Europe’s cultural heritage; and will feature weekly dispatches on historical women artists, activists and scientists who were forerunners in their field.
Europeana will publish a new profile of a pioneering woman in the fields of arts or science once a week until International Women’s Day on 8 March, when the series will culminate in a final special profile. Once the series ends, the stories Europeana has published over the course of the exhibition will be available online in perpetuity. The first of the trailblazing women to be showcased by Commissioner Gabriel’s exhibition series is the pioneering physicist Maria Skłodowska-Curie.
Commissioner Gabriel said: “How much better would Europe be if girls and women felt empowered to dream big and aim high across professional fields from art to science? Having role models will help them build these dreams. The online exhibition I launch today in cooperation with Europeana is about trailblazing women from our history whose stories are vastly different, but have one thing in common: these fearless women changed the world with their passion and hard work. Today we need to empower and inspire girls and women everywhere in Europe to innovate, discover and create especially in the digital sector. And all of us, we have a role to play.”
The series represents part of the Commissioner’s wider strategy to promote women’s participation in the digital economy and empower women to take on a more active role in digital fields. With the “Pioneers: Trailblazing women” exhibition series, Europeana aims to raise awareness of women’s contributions to the arts and science, provide a showcase for representation of professional women in Europe; and to demonstrate the role digital technologies can play in the promotion of gender equality.
