
The City as a Space for Intervention
Various locations host the works of “Transitar ‘La Quema’” by Elena del Rivero.
What if the city itself were a giant canvas to paint on—or even better, a vast space to intervene in? That’s the idea behind Extramurs, a new project from the Museu Tàpies, launching this year. Its first featured artist is Elena del Rivero, invited to present a series of activities and installations curated by Mateo Feijoo.
Years ago, Del Rivero carried out a symbolic experience that she documented and which now forms the basis of “Transitar ‘La Quema’.” A selection of her early works were displayed in homes and buildings throughout a small Galician village. After the exhibition, the artist herself burned the works in an act of healing and purification through fire.
In “Transitar ‘La Quema’,” the artist draws from that experience to intervene in urban spaces throughout Barcelona—including the facade and interior of the Museu Tàpies, where installations created by Del Rivero in collaboration with students from EINA University Centre for Design and Art will be on display. Additional works can be found at La Capella (a contemporary art centre on Carrer de l’Hospital), the Basilica of Santa Maria del Pi, the gardens of the Teatre Grec, Galeria Senda, the Loop Barcelona festival, and other city venues.
Collages, objects, photographs, and even a light-up sign invite visitors to reflect on the resilience of human and social structures. The works establish a dialogue between past and present, revealing the tensions and continuities that define contemporary urban life. Among the pieces, a golden cage filled with ashes from the burned works, placed inside the Basilica of Santa Maria del Pi, an installation at the Teatre Grec gardens featuring kitchen cloths that evoke daily life and care and a quiet, almost convent-like space recreated by the artist at La Capella.
The Extramurs project—focused this year on connections between personal and historical memory, urban narratives, and contemporary art practices—will continue during the upcoming Loop video art festival, where a new documentary film about “La Quema” will be premiered.
If you’d like to explore Elena del Rivero’s reflections on “La Quema,” visit the Museu Tàpies website for details and start creating your own itinerary through the participating city spaces.