Street arts for social transformation
Similar to you and to everyone else, we have been locked up at home for many days, observing the street through the window, longing for its spontaneity, for its peculiar and familiar faces and, ultimately, for its life.
Physical isolation generates a social distancing that has serious consequences on our individual health and the health of our community.
We know, and the World Health Organization has confirmed it, that art is one of the most effective ways we have to improve society’s emotional state. It helps us to find ways to deal with loneliness, anxiety and fear, among others.
We, artists, have a key role in creating spaces where people can meet and establish ties that make them stronger, and we contribute in making social change a reality and facilitating collective thinking.
Emotional connection is at the core of any change.
The moment to act has come!
Because the streets are more than just streets
They are the space that remind us that humans are social animals, that we need each other and that together we can envision society.
It is where we can face surprise, diversity, love, spontaneity and collective rituals.
It is where most social changes and movements have been born.
It is a place which we wish were a space for dialogue, expression and coexistence beyond the dynamics
of transportation and consumption.
Because street art transforms
Street arts have spent decades developing different schemes and formats for influencing public space.
Street arts are for everyone, regardless of age or social status.
They allow for real exchange and communication, even with those who do not consider themselves as
the ‘public’.
Street arts invite us to grasp the much needed possibility of questioning the obedience paradigm we live
in and are a space from which we can devise collective and joint visions.
Street arts are our ally when facing indifference and the absence of empathy because they facilitate relationships with the unfamiliar, freedom of expression and collective emotions.
Therefore
- We are committed to creating spaces for debate where we can discuss the transformative power of street arts in depth.
- We encourage cultural institutions, foundations, private companies, artists, people who are professionally engaged in politics… to be courageous: with proposals which wish to transform both for the territory and for citizens, co-creating with street art professionals .
- We encourage artists from all disciplines to head outdoors with more conviction than ever to express and share their creativity.
- We encourage citizens to do it too, because art belongs to everyone. Recite, paint, draw, sing, dance, write… on the street!
Now is the time to act. See you on the street!