This community artwork explores collective authorship as both method and outcome. Conceived through a participatory process, the work was assembled from a modular system of stencils, combined by different hands like pieces of a puzzle. Through this open structure, the mural emerged organically, producing unexpected forms and rhythms echoing the logic of seeds: planted with intention, yet shaped by their environment.

The project was realised during the Seeds On Wheels event at Quinta do Ferro, a historically neglected neighbourhood in central Lisbon. The event convened artists, thinkers, local residents, and organisations to draw attention to the site and to collectively imagine strategies for regeneration, using food as a catalyst for social connection and long-term care.

Central to the work is an ongoing investigation into how artistic frameworks can invite meaningful community participation while maintaining visual coherence. An abandoned house was activated through colour and pattern, transforming it into a shared surface for expression. Participants were invited to intervene using a set of interchangeable stencils, designed to be freely combined while remaining formally compatible. The resulting tiled composition references Lisbon’s traditional azulejos, translating a familiar visual language into a contemporary, collective gesture.

Moments of resistance and spontaneity, such as interventions that deliberately ignored the proposed structure became integral to the work, revealing tensions between control and freedom, authorship and autonomy. These deviations are not treated as disruptions, but as evidence of the mural’s social life.