LA CHULAPA

LOCATION: Carabanchel, Madrid, Spain

The mural rises from an old water tower located at #7 Amalarico street, next to the Hogar (Home) Bar, the main meeting point for the families who live in the area. The “Chulapa” scarf and flower combination is a typical traditional dress in Madrid since the 19th century that is commonly worn during the festivals of the popular local holiday of San Isidro. Gerada took his committed artwork to this peculiar setting composed of 640 single-family homes built during the 1940s while the fascist political regime of the dictator Francisco Franco was at its peak. The mural project, commissioned by Carabanchel Creativa and curated by Esther Fernández Castelo (from Mad Clan Collective) was created in collaboration with the General Ricardos Neighborhood Association and the European Institute of Design. It is one of a series of cultural projects that strive to activate several spaces in this area of the city that has been habitually forgotten by the local authorities. La Chulapa was created during the week-long “Fiesta de San Isidro” in close collaboration with the neighbors of this historical area of Madrid. It is a well-deserved acknowledgment to the labor of these associations to create positive change and unity within the district while at the same time fending off the specter of gentrification that now threatens all of downtown Madrid.