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A few months ago, I was invited to repaint the wall where I had created a mural back in 2017. I gladly accepted the opportunity to return and breathe new life into this space, once again connecting the piece with the rural memory of the area.
Based on a photograph from the 1960s, this mural revives an almost forgotten gesture: covering a haystack with mud to protect the straw from rain. This now-vanished traditional practice was a collective, artisanal, and effective way of preserving agricultural resources before the advent of more complex industrial structures.
In the image, three young villagers work together on an improvised ladder, applying the mud with rudimentary but precise tools. Their effort, suspended at great height, mirrors the work of today's muralists: also collective, manual, often carried out from ladders or scaffolding, and in service of a community.
The title, Stratos, refers to geological layers, but also to the strata of time and memory. The scene becomes a kind of visual palimpsest: an image from the past layered onto a present-day façade, creating a dialogue between crafts, textures, and temporalities.
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In a village of just over 400 inhabitants, more than 120 murals have transformed Penelles into a remarkable open-air gallery.
Created in 2016 and organised by Binomic.cat, with the support of the Ajuntament de Penelles, GarGar Festival brings street art in all it's forms into the heart of rural Catalonia.
The festival has welcomed artists from all over Catalonia and Spain, alongside some excellent muralists from abroad. Their work can be found throughout the village, creating an ever-changing collection of murals in a setting where contemporary urban art meets rural life.
What makes GarGar so special is precisely this contrast: a tiny agricultural village becoming a canvas for artists from near and far. It is still something of a hidden gem for street-art lovers, where you can wander quiet rural streets and unexpectedly discover an impressive concentration of murals. Really unique!
More than just a mural festival, GarGar has become an inspiring example of how art can bring new energy to a rural community while preserving the character and identity of the place.
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