Duerma en ti: Examining Stolen Maternities in Spain at the National Anthropology Museum

This exhibition investigates the widespread separation of children and newborns from their families in Spain between 1939 and 1999. It examines the ideological context and presents twenty cases through photographs, testimonies, and documents, prompting reflection on the consequences and the state's response.

The exhibition 'Duerma en ti' (inspired by Gabriela Mistral's poem 'La madre triste') delves into the painful reality of stolen maternities and child separations that occurred in Spain between 1939 and 1999. During this period, a significant number of minors and newborns were removed from their families and placed with others or in institutions, with these separations taking place in homes, prisons, maternity wards, and hospitals across the country. The exhibition contextualizes these events within the prevailing ideology and presents twenty individual cases. Through a powerful combination of photographs, personal testimonies, and historical documents, visitors are invited to confront critical questions about what happened, how, and why. It seeks to shed light on the lasting consequences for the victims and examines the role of the state, prompting a contemplation of societal silence and complicity in impunity. This exhibition is a re-edition of a prior presentation by the Consorci de Museus de la Comunitat Valenciana, held at the Centre del Carme de Cultura Contemporània in 2019, with photographic material produced by the Consorci.

Entry is free.