“Excuse Me, I’m Speaking” – Autobiographical Comics Exhibition by Spanish-Speaking Women at the Cervantes Institute

The exhibition “Excuse Me, I’m Speaking” brings together 35 leading Spanish-speaking creators of contemporary autobiographical comics, united by the motto “the personal is political.” Through lived experience and storytelling, the artists demonstrate that issues such as sexism, gender-based violence, and social inequality are not individual matters, but systemic problems that require collective action.

The exhibition at the Cervantes Institute of Athens is presented as part of the celebration of International Women’s Day, highlighting women’s voices and the significance of autobiographical storytelling in comic art as a means of social advocacy.

The opening of the visual arts exhibition “Excuse Me, I’m Speaking” will take place on Thursday, March 5 at 19:00 at the Cervantes Institute of Athens, 31 Skoufa Street, Kolonaki, in the center of Athens. A reception will follow the event. The exhibition is organized by the Cervantes Institute and CentroCentro, a cultural hub of the City of Madrid, in collaboration with Comicdom CON Athens, the international festival exclusively dedicated to comics and their culture.

Alongside the main exhibition, a complementary bibliographic exhibition will be presented at the “Juan Carlos Onetti” Library. It will feature editions and publications by the participating artists themselves, offering visitors the opportunity to explore their work in greater depth.

With diverse stylistic approaches, the works address critical themes: from LGBTQI+ rights and mental health to migration, class struggles, and historical trauma. The exhibition offers a realistic panorama that transforms personal testimony into a vehicle for social change, inviting audiences to discover the power of women’s voices in the art of comics.

The exhibition features works by 35 Spanish-speaking women artists from Germany, Argentina, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, France, Mexico, and Peru. Athens marks the final international stop of the exhibition, which was previously presented in London, Paris, Brussels, and Utrecht.

The exhibition Excuse Me, I’m Speaking presents creators who are key figures in contemporary Spanish-language autobiographical comics. It revolves around the central concept of the well-known feminist statement “the personal is political” (Hanisch, 1969), which underscores that the issues women face – often considered “personal” (sexism, domestic violence, responsibility for childcare and housework, lower wages, and other gender-related inequalities)–are in fact systemic and political problems whose resolution requires collective effort. The themes and styles vary, as do the professional trajectories of the creators. Yet they all share a common intention: to speak about their lives.

To convey one’s truth without compromise and on one’s own terms holds immense transformative power. The culture of the fanzine and DIY (Do It Yourself) movement, which began in the 1970s, is closely linked to comics production. These works became vehicles for feminist perspectives and protest against racist and class-based discrimination, advocating for queer rights and ultimately giving voice to many groups that were not meaningfully represented in mainstream media. Faced with the indifference of the art and publishing worlds–unwilling to invest in projects by women and other marginalized groups–a countercultural movement emerged that permanently reshaped both present and future. In this sense, autobiographical comics by women creators stand as symbols of the women’s liberation movement.

The selection of works was guided by the intention to encompass themes that offer a realistic perspective on dominant political issues and promote positive social change through the creators’ own narratives and lived experiences. The themes include, among others: testimonies from the LGBTQI+ community, class conflict, xenophobia, misogynistic violence, mental health, migration, working conditions, family and historical trauma, emotional space, romantic relationships, family, friendship, and the creative process. This is a small sample limited to 35 creators working in the Spanish language. It was not possible to include all the artists we would have wished to feature. Nevertheless, many women approach autobiographical comics through diverse racial, stylistic, and thematic lenses, and we encourage audiences to seek them out and engage with their work.

Excuse Me, I’m Speaking is a collection of personal experiences from which universal conclusions may be drawn. Through these joyful, sorrowful, humorous, or traumatic narratives, we encounter identities that refuse to remain in darkness and silence.

Following the opening, the exhibition will remain open to the public with free admission during visiting hours: Monday to Friday 10:00–13:30 & 16:00–20:00 and Saturday 10:00–13:30, at the Cervantes Institute of Athens.