The art project A Fence with Its Own Gaze, by Teo Vázquez at MACBA, transforms the museum’s perimeter fence into a collective piece built from the gazes, voices and emotions of the El Raval neighborhood. Curated and coordinated by Rebobinart, the intervention turns a temporary structure into a space for dialogue, representation and collective memory.

A Fence with Its Own Gaze

On the occasion of the museum’s expansion works, MACBA commissioned Rebobinart to curate and coordinate an artistic project aimed at rethinking its perimeter fence as more than a functional or provisional element. Rebobinart assumed the role of mediator and process director, inviting photographer and visual artist Teo Vázquez to lead the artistic intervention.

The project began with a simple yet meaningful question:
“How do you see what is happening here?”

Neighbors from El Raval responded through photographic portraits installed along the museum’s fence. Their gazes, thoughts and emotions transformed the space into a choral work capable of reflecting the social, cultural and human diversity of the neighborhood.

A work made with and for El Raval

The creative process, curated and coordinated by Rebobinart, unfolded in five phases: connection with the territory and local organizations, collection of stories, creation of a mobile studio for portrait sessions, production of large-scale prints, and their final installation in public space.

In this case, all portrait sessions were held inside MACBA, turning the museum into a welcoming space for encounter and participation. This decision strengthened the dialogue between institution and community, making visible the desire to open the museum to its immediate surroundings and to the people who inhabit them.

In total, the intervention brought together 75 portraits of El Raval residents, transforming the fence into a human and community-driven mosaic.

Through this proposal, MACBA sought to reduce institutional distance from the neighborhood, recognizing its voice and making it the protagonist of change. At the same time, the project reaffirmed public space as a site for democratic and shared expression.

The artist’s voice

For Teo Vázquez, the project holds a deeply personal and political meaning:

“I find myself in a place that is very important to me: Plaça del Mapa, the first neighborhood I arrived at when I came to Barcelona. I didn’t want this project to be just a cosmetic operation, but a real space for conversation. That’s why I carried out a casting in the neighborhood and selected 75 people from diverse groups: long-time residents, the Filipino community, sex workers, anti-MACBA collectives or the anti-eviction union. My idea was to create a wall of dialogue and bring all these people into the museum—many of whom had never been inside—to portray them over five days of studio work. This mural is a tribute to El Raval, with all its voices and gazes.”

About the artist

Teo Vázquez (Cádiz, 1975) is a photographer and visual artist specialized in portraiture and urban intervention. His work, exhibited internationally, is characterized by humanity, irony and social commitment, using portraiture as a direct channel to make visible stories and faces often absent from dominant narratives.