The Mercadal Town Council, in collaboration with the APB, inaugurates the exhibition "Fareras. The light that guides us" at Cavalleria lighthouse
The exhibition is part of the events organised for the first Open Doors Day of the port of Mahon
Maó
05/06/2025
Mercadal Town Hall, in collaboration with the Port Authority of the Balearic Islands (APB), opens next Friday 6th June at 7 p.m. at the Cap de Cavalleria Interpretation Centre the exhibition "Fareras. The light that guides us", an emotive exhibition curated by the film-maker Cristina Rodríguez Paz, which can be visited until 7 September 2025.
This installation is presented to the public as part of the activities organised by the APB on the occasion of the first Open Doors Day of the port of Mahón, which was created with the aim of familiarising the general public with the port and to emphasise the social, economic and cultural importance of ports of general interest and maritime signals for the island of Menorca.
The place chosen for the exhibition is Cavalleria lighthouse, where Mercadal Town Council has had a collaboration agreement with the APB since 2015 to allocate part of the lighthouse space for educational and cultural purposes where visitors can learn about several aspects of this spectacular setting in the north of Menorca.
Women lighthouse keepers
The exhibition, which was already on display last year at the Maritime Museum of Mallorca's headquarters in Sóller, pays tribute to the 26 women who have officially worked as lighthouse keepers in Spain, making their role visible in a profession historically dominated by men. Through a careful selection of historiographical material and contemporary art works, the exhibition offers a unique journey through the life, work and legacy of these exceptional women.
The exhibition space is divided into two distinct areas: one devoted to the first women who lived in lighthouses, with graphic documents and texts that reconstruct their experiences, and the other focusing on the protagonists of the documentary "The light that guides us", directed by the curator herself.
Today, only four women lighthouse keepers are still active, and their upcoming retirement will mark the end of a period that began to fade away after the passing of the 1992 Ports and Merchant Navy Act, which made this profession practically obsolete.
"Fareras. The light that guides us" is an opportunity to explore the confluence between art, history and memory, and to pay tribute to those who illuminated our coasts from the anonymity of lighthouses.
