Always Free and Alive

“In black against violence” highlights the different forms of sexist violence and points out the serious and perverse social problem they cause. It uses design to permeate everyday life, crossing all social layers, and it is through this involvement of citizens that design finds its essence. Always Free and Alive is a collective cry that has crossed borders.

‍

In 2015 in Santiago, Compostela en Negro emerged, a municipal initiative to raise social awareness against sexist violence in connection with the celebration of November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The following year, in 2016, with the impetus and coordination of the Santiago de Compostela city council, this action was extended to 17 other municipalities, giving rise to “In black against violence”, an awareness-raising campaign at the Galician level, which was progressively expanded over the following years to involve one hundred and fifty municipalities, three hundred companies, and hundreds of groups, schools and thousands of commercial establishments.

‍

The publication reflects the evolution of the campaign over eight years, and documents how it expanded and grew with each action carried out in municipalities — large and, above all, small — in schools and companies. A cross-cutting action, which also crossed borders, reaching the city of Morelia, in Mexico, or the University of Lana Laguna in the Canary Islands. It was significant for many reasons, one of them being the involvement of many men who took a stand against sexist violence, also because it became a transmedia action driven by citizens

‍

Tamara Montero writes in the prologue:

“At what point are symbols born? [...] Perhaps the question is not when, but how: how a campaign for November 25 in a Galician municipality ended up splashing the Cantabrian coast and even traveling to Morelia; how it was able to amalgamate more than a hundred municipalities, councils, companies, soccer teams, bars, homes and schools; how he dyed a Cathedral and a sidewalk black at the same time. There, in people, in collective appropriation, is where symbols are born.

‍

This book is intended to be a small compendium of how. How to build from the ground up a campaign capable of connecting with broad sectors of the public. How to turn it into a country cry, into a reference. How it is nourished with each and every one of the contributions. How it penetrates recesses where feminism had always been a foreign word.

‍

This is a manual for creating a symbol. To continue fighting violence.

‍

HERE YOU ARE THE PERMISSION

She is an associate professor at USC, art director and graphic designer specializing in the design of communication projects aimed at improving people's lives. The uqui.net studio resulted in projects such as the Pontevedra Museum brand, Xacobeo 2021-22, Territorio das Mulleres or, one of the last Sementares brands with which it received, among other awards, the European Design Awards 2024.

‍