Women's work and industry: a photo exhibition in Bologna

The Museum of Industrial Heritage in Bologna has opened the photographic exhibition Vocational Training, Women’s Work and Industry in Bologna, 1946-1970, which will remain open to the public from March 8, International Women’s Day, until next June 2. This is the first installment of a three-year project promoted by the Industrial Heritage Museum and theWomen’s Union in Italy of Bologna dedicated to the theme Women’s Labor, Training and Technical Culture.

The images on display in the exhibition document the theme of vocational education and women’s work in industrial contexts, with a focus on the Bologna area. During the years of the economic miracle (1958-1963) Bologna, andEmilia-Romagna as a whole, experienced an impetuous industrial expansion, in which women were protagonists, contributing substantially to the development of Made in Italy. The important quantitative growth in industrial women’s employment, however, was not matched by a qualification of women’s work.

Vocational education thus became a topic of discussion and political action for women’s associations, which were committed to promoting women’s entry into technical-industrial institutes, such as theAldini Valeriani, to provide new opportunities for skilled work and training not oriented only to jobs traditionally identified as feminine.

The photographs on display span the chronological period between the second half of the 1940s and the late 1960s and come from the photographic archives of the UDI in Bologna, the Museum of Industrial Heritage in Bologna(Aldini Valeriani and Fo- totecnica Bolognese Funds) and the Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna(Villani Photographic Studio Fund). Two main nuclei stand out in the initial part: images related to sewing and tailoring courses, particularly for unemployed girls, and those of theIstituto Tecnico Industriale Femminile, a new school afferent to the Aldini Valeriani. In the second part, dedicated to factory work, some series related to environments and departments of historical Bolognese companies, such as Farmac-Zabban, Weber, Ducati Elettronica and Arco, stand out.

A guided tour of the exhibition will be held on Sunday, March 10, at 4 p.m. Reservations required at 051 6356611 (by 1 p.m. Friday, March 8). For all information you can call +39 051 6356611 or send an email to museopat@comune.bologna.it.

Pictured: Tailoring shop for unemployed women run in Bologna by UDI (1947). UDI Bologna photo archive

Women's work and industry: a photo exhibition in Bologna

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.