What I did realize right from the start was how difficult life was for women artists.

How so?

Women artists weren’t taken seriously. The other day, a friend of mine told me the story of an artist in her 80s who was in a gallery in Rome that was hosting an exhibition of her work back in the 1980s.

A male collector walked in, said he liked the works and asked the gallerist who the artist was. As soon as he found out, he said, “Oh, but she’s a woman — I’m not buying.” And he didn’t.

We once put on a show focusing on the presence of female artists in Italian collections. And we realized that male collectors in Italy almost never bought work by female artists, whereas female collectors did.

The difference in price between a female artist and a male artist is staggering, even today. If you look at the auctions, the situation may have improved, but it’s still very very tough.

Do you think the #MeToo movement is helping change things?

The #MeToo movement is absolutely essential. It has raised a great deal of awareness. But a lot remains to be done for ordinary women, because for them, things aren’t yet changing, and there’s a lot of catching up to do.

I live in a country where feminicide is a common occurrence.

Women endure physical and psychological violence inside the walls of their own home. Husbands come home drunk and beat up their wives. We women have to solve this problem on a political and social level, but I also believe that culture has a role to play.

In our foundation, we show lots of works by women on issues to do with violence, which schoolchildren come and see. It’s also important for us mothers to educate our sons.