Memory of women artists against the “myth of gender democracy”: An analysis of controversies in the brazilian artistic field

Abstract

This article intends to comprehend how, in Brazil, studies in Feminist Art History proposed methodologies, objectives and concepts to understand women's participation in the artistic field. We seek to understand what women researchers define as the “myth of gender democracy” and how, according to them, this idea would have been fundamental in masking the disadvantages for female participation in artistic institutions and in the construction of historiographic records about their lives and artistic works. As material, we analyze scientific books and articles, teaching materials and video classes produced by feminist researchers dedicated to the analysis of biographies and works produced by female artists. Through this work, we intend to contribute to the understanding of the Brazilian artistic field and how feminist art history researchers dispute space and legitimacy not only academically, but also within the arts system, seeking to build a new social memory of women.