BLOCS FLORIDA by Jericó
L'Hospitalet
30.6.2018
The artist Jericó performed a mural in one of the buildings in the neighbourhood of La Florida (Hospitalet del Llobregat) within the framework of the “Plan de Regeneración Urbana Integral Les Planes – Bloques Florida”, promoted by the town hall of the city. To carry it out, some participatory sessions were performed with the neighbours in order to create the idea and design that would configure the mural so that it could be executed later. The objective of this intervention was to return the colours to the neighbourhood, improve its conditions through art and vindicate the role of women in the society.
In the video, residents, artists and the people behind the neighbourhood plan explain the project of 16 painted party walls at Blocs Florida in l'Hospitalet: how art changed a neighbourhood that «could have been quite grey», how children and young people took part, and why the city's artists need space and work. They speak in Catalan and Spanish.
Video transcript (translated from Catalan)2 min 57 s
The Blocs Florida project consists of painting murals on 16 party walls here in the neighbourhood. It also includes public participation and collaboration.
The overall plan for Blocs Florida in Les Planes has one big aim: to transform the neighbourhood as a whole and therefore turn around all the difficulties it faces. The neighbourhood lacked colour and lacked art, so we decided that every year there would be artists making their work here.
What this piece means for me and for the neighbourhood is a change — the growth of a whole neighbourhood, a whole community, not only socially but also in terms of the built environment: being able to bring colour and life to something that could otherwise be rather grey.
It is an artistic intervention accompanied by local people, one in which children and young people also have a say and can express what they want in public space.
I think there comes a point when it matters to invest in the artists we have in the city, to see that sometimes we have talent at home and don't know how to make use of it. What I would like, as a resident of Hospitalet, is to see art grow, because I think there is little of it: that spaces were given, that opportunities and work were given to many artists who perhaps can't do it yet and should be able to.
It is very important that cities start working on putting works in context and, above all, that those works reflect the real lives and circumstances of local people.
In the end urban art has been claiming its place and gaining legitimacy all this time, and now it carries far more weight. And in the end the city of Hospitalet has also wanted to join in this kind of mural work.
What I hope is that everyone has the same opportunities and the same tools to get by in life. I think it is very important to have a really good education, and to have a shared life and a relationship with public space that everyone can enjoy.
Video transcript, edited for reading: repetitions and verbal fillers have been removed, the text has been punctuated and speakers are identified.
