For a week, they participated in an experimental art and photography workshop to create paintings that now brighten up the facility's walls.
Until recently, most of the walls of the Residential Center for First Reception in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi were bare. Now they look full of color and life after playwright Mohamed El Khatib, photographer Yohanne Lamoulère, painter Bonnefrite and screenwriter Elsa Broclain held an artistic residency at the center from June 9 to 12, in which about 70 people experiencing homelessness participated.
Maru Gonzalez, director of this municipally owned service and managed by Suara Cooperativa, explains: “When people leave this temporary center they always take something with them, but this project aims to ensure that they also leave something behind, a part of themselves that beautifies the walls”.
The truth is that temporary reception centers, or any transitional services, are often seen as cold or overly institutional places. However, with the photographs and paintings created by the residents, CPA Sarrià has truly become a home, harboring the warmth of the paintbrush and the soul of its artists.
Artistic residencies for the elderly
This is not the first time this group of French artists has worked to beautify the walls of a public service facility. In their home country, they had carried out similar artistic experiences in care homes for the elderly.
During those interventions, Mohamed El Khatib gathered various testimonies to bring to life the play "La vie secrète des vieux" (The Secret Life of the Elderly), which explores the love lives and sexuality of older people. This theatrical piece recently premiered at the Teatre Lliure in Barcelona.
During their visit to the Catalan capital, El Khatib and his team wanted to repeat this experience, but with a new audience. This is how the Teatre Lliure, together with the Barcelona City Council, decided to materialize the artistic residency with another sector and give this opportunity to people treated at the CPA Sarrià - Sant Gervasi, a temporary service for people who have experienced homelessness.
“At first, I didn't want to do the workshop because many times we think we have to be experts in something to do it and, in the end, I got the courage and it was incredible to be able to participate,” said Jamilet, one of the people assisted at the CPA Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, where on June 12 the exhibition born from the artistic residency was officially presented and which now shines on the walls of the center.
For his part, El Khatib stated during the event that CPA Sarrià "is an island of love" and expressed his deep gratitude: "They have opened the doors of their home to let us carry out this residency."
Cesc Casadesús, deputy director of Teatre Lliure, highlighted that Mohamed El Khatib "is someone who wins people over because of his immense humanity," pointing to his work both in elderly care homes and now with people experiencing homelessness.
Experimental and flexible art
Specifically, CPA Sarrià implemented "Proyecto Casa" (Project House), which is based on the Terminato flexible and experimental artistic residency format, as explained by Teatre Lliure in a press release on their website. This technique prioritizes adapting to the human, social, and emotional realities of the spaces involved.
Therefore, it is tailored to a context of welcoming and supporting socially vulnerable individuals. The interventions remain open, evolving, and adapted to the center's daily rhythm through photography workshops, artistic creation, conversations, sharing life stories, image production, and collective experimentation.
Antoni Perelló, a social educator at CPA Sarrià, mentioned that an initiative that initially seemed very difficult ended up being highly welcomed and embraced by the residents. "You can see the joy in their reactions when they see their own artwork," Toni emphasized on the day of the exhibition.
Sònia Fuertes, the Commissioner for Social Action of the Barcelona City Council, also spoke at the presentation, stating: "We must commit to continuing to build spaces like these for collective, individual, and environmental transformation."
This initiative was made possible through the collaboration of Teatre Lliure, the Municipal Institute of Social Services (IMSS) of the Barcelona City Council's Area of Social Rights, Health, Cooperation, and Community, and CPA Sarrià. It is part of the Proyecto Ornitorrinco by the Red de Teatros and the Daniel & Nina Carasso Foundation.
More about the project in that vídeo (Catalan and Spanish).
