We Are Who We Want to Be

Santa Cruz de Tenerife · Category: Art · Subcategory: Urban art · Year: 2023 · Authors: Víctor Seus

Under this title, a colourful experimental mural was created over three months in 2023 by the Canarian artist Víctor Seus inside the CEIP (early childhood and primary education centre) Gesta 25 de Julio in the La Salud neighbourhood. 

The work combines abstract and figurative elements that show us both the history of the neighbourhood and that of the school itself, highlighting as a central element the portrait of Laura, known as La Lecherita de Santa Cruz , a prominent figure for many years in the Santa Cruz carnival. The mural incorporates graphic elements of the Tamazight language which, with its own particularities, was possibly spoken by the aboriginal population of the islands. Banana plants and cows also appear, as a reminder of what the area was like when the school was built at the end of the 1950s. 

The artistic piece includes objects used during its creation, as well as symbolic elements such as a key, an abstract logo suggesting a lock, which is also a path, and a phrase that says: “The key to the essence is presence”. Likewise, the author of the work wanted to symbolise the importance of peace and education through a dove and the universal motto Teach Peace . 

The pupils of the centre participated in the making of this experimental mural which, ultimately, transcends the visual in its idea of transmitting profound messages about identity, diversity, gender equality and peace; values that through education can be firmly established in our society.

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