A political, cultural and feminist space born from a collective vision: from the physical rooms of the Initiative Center to the networks of the digital ecosystem. The space we inhabit and build remains a living knot for memory, research and feminist activation.
The history
Women.it is a Orlando APS project that has created and manages the Women’s Documentation, Research and Initiative Center
The focus on technological innovation, computer and telematic networks has led Orlando Association to achieve a technological structure which is managed independently by trained women and linked to women’s and feminist associations. This process began in 1993 with a first feasibility project supported by the European Union (WIN – Women Information Network). The main purpose of this project is the construction of a virtual space to give visibility to female subjectivity and gender difference, complementing the physical public space constituted by the Women’s Documentation Center,
ServerDonne
In 1996 ServerDonne was born, nationally and internationally recognized as the first creation of its kind. It facilitated the free delivery of email inboxes and web space for women.
Today, advancements in technology have allowed for the development of the legacy of ServerDonne and the theoretical system which characterized it. Now the new digital ecosystem of women.it provides a digital participatory environment which can function as a platform for the co-production of content and the sharing of digital and physical, relational and community practices.
The Center for Documentation, Research and Initiative of Women of Bologna is a public space linked to feminism and movements for women, transgender and gender diversity in Italy and around the world. The Center contains the Italian Women’s Library, the Archives for Women’s History and the Political and Cultural Initiative Center.
The Documentation Center was designed by a group of women at the end of the 1970s and has been managed, since 1983, in agreement between the Orlando Association and the Municipality of Bologna. It is now one of the most important documentation centers in the European context.
The group that designed the Women’s Documentation, Research and Initiative Center (CDD) in the 1970s became the “Orlando” Association in 1983, taking its name from Virginia Woolf’s novel. Its original intention was to enhance the subjectivity, thought and historical experience of women and gender in every area of life while providing a transnational and transcultural perspective.
Over the course of more than forty years, “Orlando” has created a public space linked to feminist and gender inclusive movements, with the aim of generating and transmitting the cultural and political practices of women. It provides a space to promote relationships between migrants and Italians, local and global networks, relationships between genders and across generations. It facilitates initiatives, meetings, conferences, laboratories, research and training activities. Orlando collaborates with groups, associations, public and private bodies, schools and the University of Bologna.
Orlando association manages the Women’s Documentation, Research and Initiative Center and promotes its political and cultural initiatives. In this context, they created the Italian Women’s Library, the Archives for Women’s History and the Digital Ecosystem of Gender.
Orlando APS is a feminist association for social promotion.
Do you want to support us?
Orlando APS promotes free and public activities and events through the Women’s Documentation Center in dialogue with the social and cultural movements of the city.
In addition to the projects financed, many initiatives are made possible by the commitment and support of those who choose to contribute.
Please donate to us and help us inhabit this space of culture, research and relationships.
