Lavapies; Graffiti Sessions

As mentioned in my previous article, Lavapies is one of the most international and multicultural neighborhoods of Madrid. It’s considered to be the cradle of Madrid's multiculturalism, since a variety of cultures, nationalities and religions live together while maintaining at the same time their unique traditions and characteristics.

Lavapies is also considered to be the main centre of Madrid’s counterculture and street art. While walking down its narrow medieval streets you’ll be surprised by the detailed and extremely colourful graffitis that decorate the huge majority of its walls. European artists & artists from all over the world have participated in the development of the street art in Lavapies.

Some of those worth mentioning are Alice Pasquini an Italian artist famous for her characteristic colourful “markers’art”, Roa a belgian artist painted his black and white animals at what we consider the best urban garden in Madrid & Ben Eine a London based artist, who left his artsy tracks in Lavapies while attending the street art festival in Madrid.

At an international level, Kenji Chai came from Thailand looking for a place in town. A famous workshop in Madrid gave him a wall at La Tabacalera where the artist could develop his work.

Same thing happened to Buntu Fihla, a South African artist & activist, who is one of the most impressive street artists and famous for his “Nelson Mandela” graffiti that decorates the homonymous square of Lavapies.

If you pass next to the building number 35 Meson de Paredes street, you can see a huge wall with the favorite flower of Mandela’s Nobel Peace Prize, the Bird of Paradise.

Impressive right?