What are masculinities? Why is it important to talk about them?

At a time when the world is becoming increasingly polarised, understanding masculinities means understanding the stories that shape the way we relate to one another, express ourselves, feel, care for others and take our place in society.

And few tools help us as much on this journey as literature. We read to understand the world, to understand ourselves and, at times, to imagine other ways of being. Every book opens up new possibilities and every page challenges a certainty. That is why literature and masculinities go hand in hand: both invite us to question, to recognise and to transform.

This exhibition brings together voices, studies and narratives that explore the construction of masculinities across different eras, cultures, and contexts. It reveals the historical, social and cultural roots that so often distance men from care (for themselves and others), limit emotional expression and draw them towards violence as a strategy for self-assertion. But it also reminds us that every person has the opportunity to write a different story.

Open a book. Turn each page. Listen to the voices within it. And then, turn the page. Because turning the page is more than just continuing to read: it is making space for new narratives. Narratives in which care, emotional expression and equality also form part of the embodiment of masculinities.

This exhibition is an invitation to reflect and to change, reminding us that every great transformation begins, just like books, with the courage to write a new page.