Barcelona
Barcelona’s Most Romantic Corner
“The World Begins With Every Kiss…” Mural del Beso
If you want to accompany this article with a duet by two of my favorite artists:
To read the whole story, click here.
¡Buenas! Today, I came with a great suggestion that you can add to your Barcelona trip without deviating your route at all:
Mural del Beso — The Kiss Wall.
The actual title of the work is as I used in the subtitle:
“El mundo nace en cada beso.”
“The world is reborn with each kiss.”
In the Gothic Quarter, famous for its narrow streets, you will come across this wall in a location very close to the Barcelona Cathedral, yet not quite in the spotlight.
While it may appear from a distance like a photograph of a passionate kiss, upon closer inspection, you will notice that it is actually a composition of many small photographs, which is what makes it unique.
In 2014, Catalan photographer Joan Foncuberta asked residents of Barcelona to submit photos on the theme of freedom. The wall mosaic, also known as the Kiss of Freedom, is actually a collective work contributed to by the public with 4000 photographs.
The submitted photos were edited using an open-source image merging software to create a single photograph and then collaborated with ceramicist Toni Cumella to imprint them onto tiles.
A quick Spanish tip:
The word beso, which means kiss, you may remember it from the famous song “Besame Mucho”. It is also the conjugated form of the verb besar (to kiss) in the present tense for the 1st person singular, meaning I kiss or
I am kissing.Mural, on the other hand, means a mural, exactly the same as in English.
No Defeat Ever Looked So Passionate…
The artwork was created to commemorate the 300th anniversary of Catalonia’s defeat in the Spanish War of Succession, celebrated every year on September 11th as Catalonia’s National Day (La Diada). Instead of mourning, the piece symbolizes love, passion, and the desire for life.
When you look at the photos taken in front of the wall, it becomes clear that the artists have successfully achieved their goals 😊
As you know, Catalonia is an autonomous region, but the people have had to work hard to preserve their identity, language, culture and history.
The sound of a kiss is not so loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer.
— Oliver Wendell Holmes
Since it has been visited by many tourists lately, you may have to wait in line for a photo 📸 but it will be worth it 😇
If you are a good traveler, you can even see Shakira’s photo 💃
P.S.: I would like to thank dear Ester again for this photo, which I used with her permission.
I hope you will see this beautiful work with your loved one(s) next February 14th, Happy Valentine’s Day, dear reader ♥
Click for my other Barcelona articles that may interest you:
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