Public art is everywhere in Malaga. Not just formal statues honouring historical figures and events, or the religious paintings and frescos found in churches and mosques. There are sculptures by well-known artists scattered throughout the parks and main boulevards. Modern art installations along the seaside promenades. Street art and wall murals painted by graffiti artists from around the world. Whimsical benches and bicycle racks and drinking fountains. Yes, whimsical. See photo below.
And it’s not just Malaga. Every town has some form of public art. Even the playground across the street from our townhouse in La Cala del Moral has an artistic touch, the fencing around it painted in bright colours like a box of crayons.
I discovered the street art during our first trip to Malaga in 2018. Ron had to fly back to Canada for meetings, leaving me to explore the city on my own for a few days. We were only here for two weeks, so I wanted to make the most of it, setting out from our apartment each day, camera in hand, on a mission to make the city my own, one neighbourhood at a time.
I walked everywhere, using the Guadalmedina River to orient myself. It runs through the middle of Malaga, dividing the city in two – the harbour and historic centre on the east bank, the more modern city on the west. The river is dry most of the year and concrete canals have been built along the riverbed to divert any water that might collect from rainstorms and flooding.
Half the fun of street art is the unexpectedness of it, the thrill of turning a corner and stumbling across a colourful mural or painted door covering. That first day, or maybe it was the second, I followed the Guadalmedina down towards the mouth of the river where the concrete walls were covered with what looked like a haphazard collection of words and signatures layered on top of each other – typical graffiti tagging.
It wasn’t until I got closer that I saw the murals tucked between the tagging. Beautiful scenes and images that felt organized, more than simply random paintings by unknown street artists. I felt like I had stumbled on a secret garden, hidden among the brambles.
This wasn’t like a formal art gallery, each picture displayed separately in its own frame. The paintings were squished together on the concrete walls rising out of the rubble of a neglected riverbed, overgrown with weeds. It was just me and a couple of people walking their dogs, a work crew repairing some stairs further down.
I learned later that the murals had been created as part of an initiative to transform Malaga’s port district into an arts and cultural centre. One of the highlights was the Malaga Arte Urbano Soho project, also known as MAUS. In 2013, it commissioned internationally renowned street artists from around the world to come to Malaga and turn the streets into an open-air gallery. A second edition was held in 2015, and new works continue to be added.
Here are some pictures of the murals that I took on my walks in January 2018. These are from the Guadalmedina River. Tomorrow I will post another batch from the Soho neighbourhood.
