Barcelona's Graffiti

For today's cultural activity, we walked around one of Barcelona's neighborhoods called El Raval. El Raval is apart of the "Old City" and is known for its cultural diversity. Part of what makes this neighborhood colorful are the walls and bulidings covered in graffiti. Graffiti, we learned, is not only a form of artisitic expression but can be used to convey  certain ideas and messages that often reflect the ideas of people in a society.

As we started our walk, we saw El Chupete Negro (Black Pacifier), which appears all over the city. We learned that it became an important symbol for Barcelona as it represent diversity and awareness against discrimination. We also learned about the movement called ME LATA, which was started by a couple to help spread love messages throught notes painted on cans around the city. On our walk, we were able to see a few messages from ME LATA.

At the end of our walk, we saw one of Fernando Botero's sculptures of a cat. Our tour guide invited us to climb on top of it and so we took the opprotunity for a photo. After our photo shoot, our students got  the chance to make their own art and were handed chalk to make their own "graffiti" on the sidewalks of El Raval. Some wrote their names and where they are from, funny sayings, or meaningful messages to provoke thought from the pedestrians that will walk down that street.