Hidden Sewing Spaces. Visualizing the housing and sewing workshops of les jaqueteres of Benimaclet (1940-1975)

Abstract

[EN] Despite women working “two-thirds of the world's working hours, producing half of the world's food,” their labour often goes unrecognized, underpaid or even unpaid, and hidden away in the private sphere[1]. This history thesis seeks to make visible the untold story of les jaqueteres, the women that sew jackets and the spaces where they used to work as seamstresses. Particularly, it focuses on the neighbourhood of Benimaclet, in northern part of the city of Valencia, Spain. This work had not been carried out in the neighbourhood before 1939, as they used to make a living in agriculture. During the post-Spanish Civil War period (post 1939), women were forced to turn to this form of subsistence due to the tense economic situation and contribute to the family income. The houses became workshops, the living rooms served as sewing stations and bedrooms as storage spaces. Yet, the productive activity of sewing jackets, and the conditions in which it was done, were kept hidden from public view. The women went from sewing to cooking or looking after the children, practically without seeing the light of day. Through the analysis of interviews and declarations of some jaqueteres, archival images and fieldwork, this thesis explores the hidden spaces in where these women were sewing. This thesis attempts to shed light on how the houses were reconfigured to become ateliers, the spatial qualities where the work was being done, and the relationship between the public and private spheres. Ultimately, this thesis not only aims to reveal the critical importance of women’s work to the history of humanity, but also to demonstrate the lack of spatial conditions for performing feminised works. [1] Walter Kälin, Lars Müller, and Judith Wyttenbach, The Face of Human Rights, (Baden: Lars Müller Publishers, 2004) 130.