Spaces that connect and inspire

These murals managed to enter my phone gallery this Monday afternoon while we were walking through the centre of the town of Petrel, Spain. After an adventure we had in the morning (which deserves a post dedicated to it) we needed to cool off with some ice cream that my friend promised was the best ice cream in the area. We went there but the place was full, there were no empty tables for us, so we walked a few streets before returning. Our second attempt was already lucky, a table was freed up and the promised ice cream time was met. Helado de turrón (Nougat ice cream); that was a new flavour for me. I really liked it, although the portion could be a little bigger. That's what we concluded. 😁

However, I'm not complaining, as they say, everything happens for a reason, so I'm sure we needed that little walk not only to wait for a free table but also to see these murals.

This was the first one that I spotted. A little girl, having her backpack as a pillow, covered with a blanket where we see some countries that are in conflicts and war... A difficult topic, showing the sad reality many children have to face - to be a war refugee.

I checked the signature Doble 13 and found the web page of that project. They claim to be a cooperative and multidisciplinary team capable of creating living spaces that connect, inspire and provoke emotions. For me, that is already a definition that can give them the quality of being true artists who bring their works to people, for us - to spot them in the places that usually would be just empty walls. They transform an empty or ugly surface into a message, using the means of painting.

The house right next to this mural was painted by the same people, from Doble 13. It was a really cool concept, so see the scenes where the windows should be.

The same house, but already behind the corner, looking toward it from another street:

I bet these girls, who seemed a bit bored didn't know they would arrive at the Hive one day. 😁

A few streets away, another big mural, and again the same signature, 13/13 (double 13) but also I saw that it was painted as a part of activities in a festival called ARTenBITRIR. The mural's name is Ultimatum and this is what I found out about it (the text is in Spanish, but here comes the English translation):

Third work in our Alianza series. The message is to raise awareness of the need to care for biodiversity and endangered species. Made during the Artenbitrir festival in 2019. The elephant, one of the largest mammals, crowns the scene surrounded by other creatures and living beings. The human, from the front and with a fixed gaze, represents the need for action on the part of the human being, for coexistence, respect and cooperation with nature.

source

A pity this awesome mural looks toward that abandoned plot, but so cool that the huge wall of the building was used for it.

Still walking around, I saw another mural of that size. The author is Carlos Callizo, and the name of the mural is Tribute to Banksy, the Balloon Grew. It was made during the ARTenBITRIR festival in 2018. If you find yourself in Petrel one day, you can walk to the street Carrer Josep Perseguer, and there you can find this lady.

The murals made during the various editions of the festival ARTenBITRIR don't finish here. In the following two murals, there is marked the year they were made. The newest ones are from this year (April 2024).

A sensual, dreamy one with a powerful essence - music.

The author of these mermaids that also bring music is Misa Shine:

I'm not sure about the year this mural was made, but I found the author of it - Gista Uno. I loved its vibe with those musical signs and piano keys (I hope you see them as my friend and husband didn't see the keys from the first). A happy mural.

Let's continue. I promise I will finish soon this post but there were many murals... 😂

So, these are the works of two French authors (as far as I found out), Scaf Oner and Abys Osmoz. Unfortunately, I could not take a photograph of the whole, long wall as there were cars parked in front of it, very close, so I could not get closer and have a better angle for the pictures.

Tilt your head to see this one:

More music (the guitar) and a ginger kitty playing with wool yarn. Isn't it cute?

During this unplanned but in the end, very interesting little tour I saw that the town of Petrel appreciates this way of artistic expression. Empty walls or facades are magically transformed into a colourful visual message - who could resist this art? I can't. The ice cream was waiting for us... however, all these murals were also sweet. After all, they are spaces that connect and inspire.