Drap-Art: the sustainable art that transforms Barcelona

The essence of Drap-Art , the International Festival of Sustainable Art , is based on the idea of imagining a world where beauty and art can emerge from what most people reject.

A new edition of Drap-Art is coming that transforms the Gothic quarter of Barcelona , from today and until December 21, into a true laboratory of art and consciousness. This edition, full of creativity and activism, celebrates almost three decades of commitment to sustainability and invites the public to discover the impact of an art that reuses, questions and transforms.

In its 28th edition, the festival presents more than a hundred works by 60 artists who express themselves and transmit powerful messages, recovering forgotten or rejected objects to give them a second chance. The Drap-Art is an exhibition and an immersion in the most emblematic spaces of the Gothic quarter, from galleries such as Mucha Fibra and Base Elements to places as unique as the Espai del Borsí or the Espai Drap-Art . More than 60 artists from all over the world - including local and Balearic talents - display more than a hundred works that bring waste into dialogue with visual poetry.

Among the most striking pieces, stands out 'Masa de elecciones', by the Colombian artist Andrea Verbel Vanegas , who under the pseudonym Garbage Guerrillera has created a 20 kg dress made of plastic, cardboard and electronic waste. This work, created after two months of work, is a powerful metaphor for excess and responsibility. Another proposal is that of Errol Sari , a London-based artist based in Barcelona, who turns plastic cans and caps found on the beaches into sculptural jewels.

'Masa de elecciones', Garbage Guerrillera (2018)

Actions on the street are also one of the great attractions of a festival that aims to connect with the community from the heart of the city. With Drap-Art Outdoors , a series of concerts that begin on November 23 in Plaça del Rei, the rhythm of a program full of energy is set, which culminates every Saturday with the Artistic Recycling and Sustainable Consumption Market at the royal square Here, art and sustainability merge in a set of stalls that will invite you to rethink how we consume and reuse.

A call to peace and sustainability

In a global context of social, ideological and political conflicts, the festival reflects on activism in the art world and claims a return to humanist values as a means to achieve global sustainability. This year, Drap-Art raises its voice against the current situation, and as the director of the festival, Tanja Grass , says, "there is no sustainability without peace". This thought will reach its peak on December 21, coinciding with the commemoration of Rebirth Day , an initiative of the Tercer Paraíso project, conceived by the referent of environmental art and prominent member of Arte Povera, Michelangelo Pistoletto , together with the his organization Cittadellarte – Fondazione Pistoletto. As part of the festival, Drap-Art has organized a great "Festive and fun-performative Manifestation-Procession-Distilled for Universal Peace and Human Empowerment" .

This concentration will have the participation of renowned international artists such as Eddy Ekete and Little Shilpa , as well as local figures such as Marcel·lí Antúnez Roca . The event will culminate in Plaça Catalunya in Barcelona with a collective action that will bring together children from the schools of Ciutat Vella to create a giant choir, under the direction of the action artist HA Schult , another pioneer of the environmental art

'Joe, el gorila', Miquel Aparici (2017)