Acción 1

This is a video documentation of an 'acción' performed in a public square in La Paz, Bolivia. Using a blood-colored liquid and the presence of young women, Mujeres Creando invites the passers-by to reflect upon the lives lost in the constant struggle for political power, and reminds them that women are one of the main victims of a political system that allows institutional gendered violence. Questioning the functionality of the President as representative of Bolivian people, this acción suggests that repression is not exclusive of dictatorships, and that democracy also exerts oppression through unequal gender politics. The intervention of the police in order to stop the acción illustrates how Mujeres Creando's work brings together performance and activism.

Mujeres Creando is a feminist anarchist movement created in 1990 in La Paz, Bolivia. It is comprised of women of different cultural, social, and ethnic origins, and explores creativity as an instrument of resistance and social participation. The three women who founded this communitarian proposal (Maria Galindo, Julieta Paredes, and Monica Mendoza) worked together to recover the public space that the patriarchal system appropriated. In this sense, the group does not only struggle for women's rights or issues that affect women, but also against other problems that affect society. The ways of expression of Mujeres Creando are graffiti, creativity, ongoing public debates, and acciones, along with a constant presence in the streets to reclaim a voice and participation in the public sphere. Since its beginnings, the group has been part of international gatherings, dialoguing with different feminist tendencies and thus being able to build its ideological identity within the autonomous feminism, in contrast and in connection with global struggles. In April 2001, due to ethical and political disagreements, there was a division in the group, which brought the necessity to differentiate names. In spite of this divergence, Maria Galindo continues working with Mujeres Creando in Bolivia.