The Érguete Association was founded in 1985 by a group of mothers united by a common bond: at least one of their children was affected by drug addiction They went out into the streets, trained themselves, pointed at the drug traffickers, gained rights for the drug addicts and paved the way for a society that, step by step, became more aware and active against the problem. These mothers were key figures and their fight meant a turning point in our recent history.

The mothers of Érguete discovered that the association provided them with a way to redefine their motherhood, considered back then as the bedrock of feminine identity which relegated women to the roles of housewives and wives. On entering the public sphere, they used their bodies and voices to embody, interpret and reveal everything that had been hidden until then. This demonstration of their pain and trauma represented a challenge to the State’s performance, and it countered by taking group legal actions that opened cracks in the drug trafficking rings in Galicia.

During the 1980s and 1990s, they managed to change public opinion, promote reforms in the rule of law and exert a major influence on the political and social perception of women, as well as recognition of their roles as mothers and housewives. Although the Érguete Association was not born with a strictly feminist position, it strengthened and transformed the role of women in society.

Today, four decades since it happened, an exhibition aims to look back at these mothers and convey the crucial effect they had on Vigo, in Galicia, and on the rest of the Spanish State. In addition to featuring a selection of graphic materials, objects and documentation from the Érguete Association’s archive and newspaper library, the exhibition includes works by contemporary artists that reflect the political and social context using a wide-range of languages and media.