In 2015, the young 30-year-old Iranian film director, Keywan Karimi, directed the film Writing on the city, a documentary feature film that reflected the history of graffiti in his country, from the Islamic Revolution of 1979 to the elections of the year 2009. The making of the documentary earned Karimi a prison sentence for "spreading propaganda against the prevailing system and insulting religious sanctities."
The plot and content of the film, as well as Karimi's situation, are the elements that have served as inspiration for the Ars Magna collective to create a new mural in the area adjacent to the CIC El Almacén, commissioned by the Culture area of the Cabildo de Lanzarote directed by Councilor Óscar Pérez.
The Minister of Culture of the Cabildo de Lanzarote expressed his satisfaction with the completion of this new mural work by Ars Magna that "completes the rehabilitation" of this area attached to El Almacén, and announced that "it is the intention of Cultura Lanzarote to continue working to contribute to recovering, through art and culture, other degraded spaces in the city of Arrecife."
The councilor appreciates that the owners "gave up" the land
As explained by one of the coordinators of Ars Magna, the artist Víctor GM, the Lanzarote Film Festival itself suggested making a mural in homage to the imprisoned filmmaker. "Thanks to the commission from Cultura Lanzarote to rehabilitate the El Almacén area, we have been able to intervene in this project and take the opportunity to support Karimi. We have been working on this graffiti for a week and we are very happy with the final result," the artist pointed out.
This mural is added to the one recently made in the old Jordán gas station by the artists Tono Márquez and Felo Monzón, in homage to the writer Agustín Espinosa, also promoted by the Culture area. This work was also part of the 9th Biennial Meeting of Lanzarote organized by the Art, Culture and Tourism Centers of the Cabildo, through the International Museum of Contemporary Art (MIAC).
The Culture Area has also rehabilitated the facade of the house of Domingo Armas that adjoins the Plaza de El Almacén. A protected asset on which intervention was carried out "following the criteria indicated by the Historical Heritage Service", according to the Cabildo de Lanzarote.
The Minister of Culture, finally, wanted to convey his gratitude to the Arrecife City Council and the owners of the land for their collaboration and the transfer of spaces to carry out this project.
