The Mediation Service of the City Council of Badalona (Barcelonès Nord), within the Neighborhoods and Communities program of the Barcelona Provincial Council, has promoted a participatory mural art project in the Health tunnel in which several educational centers and entities of the neighborhood
The proposal, directed by the Badalona painter Carlos Spogo and integrated into Pintamos Mucho, a set of artistic-social activities that he himself coordinates, aims to reinforce social cohesion and recover the historical memory of the neighborhood through a work that collects the stories of the site and the lives of its inhabitants.
In the first phase of this participatory project, several workshops were held in which a selection of old photographs was presented, generating dialogues around the images and their relationship with today, and reinterpreting them using different plastic arts techniques.
Next, four days of intergenerational artistic activities were held at the L'Escorxador cultural center, where the participants of the previous workshops made new proposals based on the photographs, drawings and collages already created. Affective bonds emerged that helped understand different social realities, reinforcing integration and teamwork.
The result of these sessions has been shown on the outside of the tunnel, next to Ramon Llull Street, using the Paste Up technique. The design is made up of a selection of old photographs of the neighborhood and previously painted images, pasted directly to the wall.
On the sides of the interior of the tunnel, a mural has been made where you can see historical elements of the neighborhood and details of nature linked to the city, represented through a fresh and fun style, inspired by the work carried out during the workshops. As a closing of the project, colorfully painted wooden letters have been installed that form the name of the neighborhood, to which photographs and drawings on paper have been attached.
"With this intervention we have tried to dignify the tunnel, transforming it into a more cheerful space and contributing to the consolidation of the collective identity of the neighborhood," explained the Councilor for Youth, Coexistence, Mediation and Participation, Odalys Sánchez. "Both the participants and the citizens have made a mural work their own that invites us to delve into the memory of this site through art," she added.
The educational centers that have participated in this initiative, which has had the support of the Mediation Service of Badalona City Council as part of the Barris y Comunidades program of the Diputación de Barcelona, are the Barres i Ones Institute, the Rafael Alberti School , the Turó de Caritg Institute and the Enric Borràs Institute, as well as the Women's Federation and the Badalona Capaç Foundation. The archival images have been lent by the Museo de Badalona, Badalona Records and various individuals.
