NOU Sentit Urbà – Nou Barris

Urban Art, Memory and Social Transformation in Nou Barris

NOU Sentit Urbà is an urban art project in Nou Barris promoted by the Nou Barris District of the Barcelona City Council. The project arises from the need to rethink the use of public space as a place of memory, collective expression, and the construction of shared narratives. In an urban context marked by tensions around space, coexistence, and dominant imaginaries, NOU Sentit Urbà understands urban art not as a decorative tool, but as a cultural policy capable of activating reflection, dialogue, and identity.

Through artistic interventions, installations, and cultural mediation processes, the project proposes a new way of interpreting the territory, placing people, stories, and struggles that have shaped Nou Barris over time at the center. Urban art thus becomes a tool to tell the story of the neighborhood from within, acknowledging its social complexity, collective memory, and community value.

The project has been executively produced by Rebobinart, with cultural co-production by Cruïlla, OhLaLa Comunicació responsible for the communication strategy and rollout, and Folch Studio in charge of creative and audiovisual direction. NOU Sentit Urbà is funded by the European Next Generation EU funds, within the framework of European recovery and urban transformation policies, which has made it possible to develop a project with cultural ambition, technical rigor, and territorial impact.

Governance and cross-sector collaboration

A project of this complexity is only possible through shared work and coordination among different stakeholders. NOU Sentit Urbà has relied on a clear and transversal governance structure that has ensured institutional coherence, appropriate urban planning criteria, and artistic quality.
The project has had a permanent working group made up of technical staff from the Nou Barris District, the IMPU (Municipal Institute of Urban Landscape), the ICUB (Barcelona Institute of Culture), and the UTE team, with Rebobinart responsible for executive production. This coordination space has been key to facilitating the implementation of the interventions in public space and ensuring the project’s alignment with the city’s cultural policies.

A project rooted in the territory

Nou Barris is not a stage; it is a subject. A district built from the periphery, shaped by processes of self-construction, migration, and strong neighborhood struggles, Nou Barris is both the starting point and the core of the project.
NOU Sentit Urbà does not seek to embellish public space, but to activate it, explain it, and recognize it as a space of memory and coexistence. Each intervention is located in meaningful spaces—facades, squares, facilities, or urban axes—and establishes a direct dialogue with the social, historical, and human context in which it is embedded. Urban art thus becomes a tool for critically reading the present and constructing collective narratives.

Art, participation, and cultural mediation

The project places the process at the center. Beyond the final artworks, NOU Sentit Urbà incorporates a strong participatory, educational, and cultural mediation dimension, understanding that the project’s value lies not only in the outcome, but also in the journey.
Consultative sessions have been held with district organizations, allowing the project team to listen to the territory, identify sensitivities, and incorporate diverse perspectives. In parallel, participatory sessions have been developed with specialized agents such as Globus Vermell and Basket Beat, working with children, young people, and local groups through art, education, and sport as tools for social cohesion.
The project has also included an educational dimension with schools in the district, through creative processes carried out jointly with the artist Rice, who worked with students and educational communities to introduce urban art as a pedagogical tool, a means of expression, and a way to critically read the environment.

Artist selection as a core axis of the project

For Rebobinart, the way artists are selected is as important as the final result. The quality and depth of an urban art project depend on the artists’ ability to engage in dialogue with the theme and the context in which they intervene.
Before selecting any intervention, the project’s central themes are defined through work with local entities and stakeholders. Once established, artists are identified who, due to their trajectory and creative language, can establish a coherent dialogue with these axes.
This process is validated through a plural Artistic Selection Committee, made up of Irma Vilà, David Armengol, Susana Malagón, Enric Jové, Marc Aureli Santos, Antoni Arola, and Laia Carrera—professionals linked to contemporary creation, cultural management, pedagogy, and critical thinking, who have contributed to shaping the project’s collective and urban narrative.

A choral narrative: the artistic projects

NOU Sentit Urbà is conceived as a choral narrative, made up of projects that address key themes of the district such as memory, women, migration, self-construction, sport, education, sustainability, and critical reflection on tourism and housing.
The projects developed by artists such as Mariana Santos, Shozy, Dima Korma, Jay Kaes, DOA OA, Udatxo, Octavi Serra, Basurama, WeDo Goas, and Rice offer diverse yet complementary perspectives, reinforcing a plural and shared reading of Nou Barris.

A city project with a forward-looking vision

NOU Sentit Urbà demonstrates that urban art can be part of city cultural policies with ambition, rigor, and social impact. The project opens the door to replicable models in other neighborhoods and urban contexts, adaptable to different community realities.
From Rebobinart’s perspective, NOU Sentit Urbà is part of a broader trajectory that understands urban art not as the occupation of a wall, but as a tool to activate perspectives, build narratives, and strengthen communities.