“Because fascism continues to threaten, Sinsorga is indispensable”
- Andrea Momoitio is a journalist and writer of the book Lunática (Aldartetsu) (KO Books, 2022). Together with journalist Irantzu Varela they have created the Sinsorga cultural center of the Casco Viejo de Bilbao to promote culture and feminist thinking.
On June 23, the feminist cultural center Sinsorga in Bilbao opened its doors. When and how does the project emerge?
The idea of creating something is old. The truth is that Irantzu Varela had his office in the building opposite the headquarters of Pikara Magazine. Over time, it became clear that it did not make sense to keep the two premises and that it was certainly best to be together. Gradually we began to shape the idea, we also looked at some locals, but the idea was overturned. One day, when I left Plaza Nueva in Bilbao, I saw the front building and I was clear that I had to be there. This raised the idea.
I read in an interview that you wanted to create a place where you would like to go to you. Do you lack references and spaces like the Sinsorga?
I don't think they're missing, because we've always had feminist shelters and shelters. Sometimes they have been more clandestine, others more visible, but they have always been in Bilbao and elsewhere in the Spanish state: Raposa in Barcelona and Oveja Negra in Madrid, for example. It is true that there are usually smaller spaces compared to the bilbainada we have created…
Sinsorga is a space to foster feminist culture and thinking. How will they manage it and what does the project offer? The
building consists of four floors and in each one you can find different offers, a casino, a store and many spaces for projects and subscribers. The gambling den is run by three servers and one responsible to guarantee the daily offer. The food is brought by the Sustraia cooperative and we offer it on the premises. The store is currently run by Irantzu and I, and it can offer products made by women and brands with feminist criteria. And in the subscriber area, in exchange for an annual fee, different spaces can be used.
"We've had a lot of problems with many guys who have come to work: they've questioned us, they've questioned our
architect's work."
Before the building was a wedding dresses store and now, thanks to the contributions of about 300 people, they have become a four-story feminist cultural center. The challenge was that those responsible for the work were women. How has the process been? It has been
quite difficult. More than one told us that this was going to be the case and we checked it. It has not been especially difficult for us to find women who wanted to participate in the neighborhood work; the most difficult thing has been to find a team to work under the conditions required by law. It has been desperate, not only the work itself, but the whole process. We spent many months standing: the architect was doing his job in contact with the city hall, but he could do nothing. The process has been painful.
From this process they have also created a documentary.
Since we started working on the Sinsorga project, Irantzu and I became clear that we are probably both journalists, that it was important to explain the story because the creation of stories is fundamental. We talked to the friends of Al Rim Films, who have turned the initial idea into a product with more personality. It goes beyond explaining how the process has been. I cannot go too far ahead, it will be published in 2025.
These weeks of open synsorga you can count more of a curiosity, will one of
them explain it in the documentary, you will have to see it! However, we have had many problems with many types that have come to work, because they have not treated us well: they have questioned us, they have questioned the work of our architect… Well, that shows that patriarchy and its gear works perfectly.
The doors of space are open to anyone, except transfobos and fascists. How do you experience this upward context of the right tip?
On the day of the interview we have had a sticker on the Sinsorga portal. Well, we live in this context with attention to the aggressions that we can receive, both physical and virtual. But above all, from what we have seen since we opened the doors of Sinsorga, we believe that we have a lot of support. And of course, whatever happens, we will respond firmly.
In this context, why are spaces such as the Sinsorga needed?
Although we have managed to gain some time from the outcome of the last elections, fascism continues to threaten us and we need our own spaces to drive our feminist thinking, to be together and to face what will come.
The demanding feminist thinking
“I remember the political socialization of feminism when I got out of the closet, perhaps a little earlier. When I started looking for answers to the idea of being a bollo I found feminism and have been accompanying since. I later immersed myself in Pikara Magazine in the second year of my studies. Until then I was clear about where I was standing in front of machismo and heteropatriarchy, but of course I was lucky because I found a school almost tailor-made in Pikara. Since I was growing up, I've never seen another option. I remember when I was little, I interviewed the women in the neighborhood and then I would go home and pass the talks to Word.”
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