The Cine Viejo Cultural Space hosted this Friday, July 10, the presentation of the Urban Art Guide of Candelaria. This project, promoted by the City Council, aims to collect, document, and enhance the artistic interventions that are part of the municipality's urban landscape.
The mayor of Candelaria, Mari Brito, highlighted that the initiative represents «the municipality's firm commitment to bringing art closer to citizens, preserving contemporary heritage, and recognizing the value of artistic creation as an element of collective identity».
During her speech, Mari Brito pointed out that «Candelaria is much more than an enclave of deep historical and spiritual tradition in Tenerife and the Canary Islands. It is also a space in constant transformation, where the past and the present dialogue through the urban art that numerous artists have depicted in our streets and which, on many occasions, goes unnoticed by those who walk by quickly». In this regard, she explained that the publication was created with the objective of «capturing that living conversation between the ancestral and the contemporary».
The guide invites visitors to tour the municipality, discovering how sculptures evoking the ancient Guanches coexist with a current artistic language expressed in murals, squares, and other public spaces. This journey shows how urban art reinterprets the history, memory, and landscape of Candelaria, offering new perspectives on its identity.
The presentation also included participation from the Councilor for Culture, Manuel González; the author of the publication's texts, Vanessa Rosa Serafín; photographer Sheila Torres; and the designer and layout responsible, Paco Almeida.
The Urban Art Guide of Candelaria is developed through three complementary actions. The first is the publication of the book, which documents each work and will also be available in digital format on the City Council's website, with the intention of updating it as new artistic interventions are incorporated into the municipality.
The second action is the outdoor photographic exhibition ‘Arte urbano en Candelaria’ (Urban Art in Candelaria), installed on the Rambla Los Menceyes and open to the public throughout the summer. The third is the creation of a map-guide with an itinerary of all the urban art pieces, incorporating QR codes to expand information on each artwork.
Through this initiative, the Candelaria City Council continues to promote projects that contribute to disseminating the municipality's artistic heritage, bringing culture closer to residents and visitors, and fostering knowledge of a constantly growing contemporary legacy.
