In Barcelona neighbourhoods where local shops are steadily disappearing, neighbourly bonds are weakening, and there are too few spaces for real cultural participation, community life and the everyday exercise of cultural rights suffer, especially for people already facing social vulnerability.
Few initiatives bring together cultural participation, the recovery of public space and genuine collaboration with local businesses to build stronger, more sustainable communities while giving real value to the talent of people who are too often overlooked.
The project
"Persianas con Alma" runs community creation processes that bring together people facing social vulnerability, local artists, local shops and neighbours, contributing to sustainable, connected communities through the artistic and cultural valorisation of public space itself. Participants design and paint permanent artistic shutters, recovering shopfronts as shared cultural works rather than closed, empty spaces.
The project rests on community creation, equal cultural participation and the recognition of participants as genuine creators, not passive recipients of a service. Shared responsibility for the local area, working in network with local shops, and a sustainable model built on stable partnerships and ongoing evaluation all run through the work.
Who the project is for
The project's direct beneficiaries are 30 people in situations of social vulnerability, particularly those facing mental illness, addiction, gender-based violence or homelessness, alongside 6 local shops and 3 urban artists.
Its impact reaches further, to 360 visitors to the resulting photography exhibition, 230 attendees at community events, and the wider neighbourhood, including the hundreds of people who pass through the public space every day.
Project name: Persianas con Alma
Proposing organisation: ATRA
Area of intervention: Environment & Sustainable Communities
Country: Spain