Taller al Centre d’Acollida Coda — an urban art workshop with young people

We’ve given young people a new outlet to express what they think and feel through urban art. We reflected on ways of taking action in public space, the responsibility that involves, the good practices needed, and the opportunity to improve the neighbourhood through art. We managed to get these young people actively involved in the neighbourhood where they live.

A theoretical and practical workshop, from the history of urban art to the present day, reflecting on the role of art in the street. A creative process was developed, gathering the young people’s ideas through participation and discussion exercises, eventually turning them into a sketch to transfer onto the wall. Starting from the young people’s life experiences, often striking ones, a brainstorm took shape around what they wanted to express in the street. In the end, they wanted to capture the outrage over the conditions under which so many people risk their lives every day in search of a better future — but from a point of irony. So the idea was to send the kings of Spain and Morocco adrift in a leaking dinghy, in the middle of the strait. At the same time, a workshop was held to customise caps using spray paint.

Each young person got to personalise an old cap using this technique. The young people were very proud to be able to intervene on walls they see every day, in a square where they spend many hours of the day. Their mural stood alongside those of high-quality urban artists, and they were able to share their idea with a large number of residents in the neighbourhood.