La servidumbre

Madrid, Spain

Documentary and portrait photography with a strong feminist, postcolonial, and social lens.

Sandra Eleta, “Purita”, 1975 – 1989. From the series “La Servidumbre”

Image credit

Sandra Eleta, “Purita”, 1975 – 1989. From the series “La Servidumbre” © Galeria Memoria

Meet the artist

The Movement

Photo

ArtLovers Tip

Stand in front of each portrait as if you were meeting someone, not studying a “subject.” The strength of La servidumbre is that the women portrayed do not disappear into their role — they hold the image, hold your gaze, and make invisible labour impossible to ignore.

Exhibition Highlights - What you’ll see

Sandra Eleta’s La servidumbre was made between Panama and Spain from 1975 to 1989, and constructs a visual essay on domestic labour, colonial memory, gender, class, and the politics of looking.

La servidumbre presents portraits of domestic workers across two generations. But these are not passive images of service or subordination. Eleta uses frontality, restraint, gesture, and intense gazes to shift the balance of power between photographer, subject, and viewer.

You’re watching:

  • Domestic workers photographed with dignity, presence, and force
  • Interiors where labour, class, and colonial history become visible
  • A visual ambiguity between Panama and Spain, showing how similar social structures repeat across both contexts
  • Older women whose gestures suggest containment, and younger women who confront the camera more directly
  • The powerful image of Romy during the 1989 United States invasion of Panama, armed beneath the painted gaze of her employer’s portrait.

The exhibition turns the domestic space into a place of tension — not private, neutral, or invisible, but political.

Worth the trip

Yes — especially if you believe photography can restore visibility and dignity.

This is the first solo exhibition in Spain by Sandra Eleta, spanning MEMORIA’s two Madrid locations. The series was also included in Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960–1985, underlining its importance within feminist and Latin American art histories.

It matters because La servidumbre forces us to look at work that societies often depend on while keeping invisible. The portraits do not simply document domestic labour — they question who gets represented, who gets looked at, and who has the right to look back.

How to experience it

Don’t rush the faces — the gaze is where the power shifts

Look at the interiors as social spaces, not just backgrounds

Notice the tension between intimacy and hierarchy

Think about how domestic labour connects gender, class, and colonial history

Compare the older and younger women: the difference in posture and gaze tells part of the story

Madrid, Spain

Discover the destination

Experience art in Madrid

Spain

Art in Madrid — Museums, exhibitions & artworks worth traveling for.

From Velázquez to today’s global contemporary scene, Madrid turns a city break into an art journey.

Explore Madrid

Because you are an artlover,

Join our community of art enthusiasts and discover exhibitions, artists, and masterpieces tailored to your tastes. Get personalized recommendations and never miss a must-see show again.