Como algunos ya saben, EcoIsleta es un Coliving para artistas y trabajadores remotos en Las Palmas. Un espacio diverso y multicultural que busca ser una comunidad creativa y dinámica. Nuestro sueño es generar diálogos culturales y sociales inspiradores.
Hace unos días organizamos un pequeño photowalk por el barrio de La Isleta. La actividad fue una colaboración con una pequeña comunidad de artistas, fotógrafos y diseñadores, que el buen amigo Jeremy Corain, está tratando de construir en Las Palmas.
Contraste
La idea era caminar por La Isleta buscando contrastes. Al mismo tiempo yo debía ir explicando algunos temas importantes de la historia de nuestro barrio. De esta manera los participantes podían entender mejor lo que íbamos descubriendo por el camino.
Personalmente aprendí muchísimo conversando y entendiendo de qué manera sentían y observaban aquellos artistas y fotógrafos nuestro barrio.
Antes de hacer la actividad, reconozco haber tenido muchas dudas sobre la existencia de esos «contrastes» de los que habíamos hablado en la preparación de la actividad con Jeremy. De antemano, era incapaz de imaginármelos.
Tengo que reconocer que estaba totalmente equivocado sobre el lugar en el que vivo. Efectivamente, La Isleta está llena de contrastes, pero yo no había sabido verlos nunca. No había hecho el sencillo ejercicio de buscarlos.
Mi mirada está tan acostumbrada al lugar donde vivo que no soy capaz de observar aquello que nos hace únicos y diferentes, como puede ser el color de nuestras casas. Lo que puede ser contraste y color para unos, para mi era lo más normal del mundo…
Lo interesante de estas actividades, en las que combinamos diferentes maneras de observar y entender un lugar o una comunidad, es que el resultado es tremendamente enriquecedor para las dos partes. Tanto para los locales como para aquellos que son de fuera…
Fotografías y perspectivas de los participantes…
Los diálogos fueron de lo más diversos. Como colofón a la actividad, cada participante nos ha enviado una foto y un pequeño texto, que puedes ver en este post.
El mismo espacio puede ser visto de tantas maneras como personas lo descubran. Es realmente inspirador…
Jeremy Corain…
This photo reflects La Isleta as a place caught between two identities: one rooted in tradition, color, and individuality, the other shaped by modern uniformity and functional design.
It raises a quiet tension: how easily character and history can be replaced by standardized spaces, often without us noticing right away.
Isabelle…
What I found most interesting was that every house was painted in a different color, which reflected the cultural heritage, the family bonds, or just the preference of the owner. I love the idea of letting colors speak. Pedestrians get a first feeling for the people inside of the house, just by walking past. Colors start telling the story that an open door can then continue. But even if we just walk passed, they bring us more joy and brighten our days – especially with the now too-often cloudy weather forecast.
Since I believe that every one sees colors differently, I also like the idea that everyone gets a different picture when strolling through the streets of La Isleta. This is the color that stood out the most too me, that caught my eye by being so vibrant, so rich, so hopeful. Which one stood out to you?
Lucas…
La Isleta, like no other neighborhood of the Island, needs a strong regulation that preserves our identity and our culture. Old houses must be protected, and we must keep the construction style. That is part of our history, our roots, which everyone should know.
Natalia…
Layers of time pressed into a single frame — crumbling facades and a plastic glass tower sharing the same sky. The old buildings don’t apologize for their decay; they hold their ground with a kind of worn dignity that newness can’t manufacture. This is what a city in transition looks like: not yet one thing, no longer another.
Miko…
The trip around La Isleta was a great way to see Spanish history reflected in architecture and the way people have lived over dacades of different conditions.
Monika…
I have spent a good couple of weeks walking down those colorful, narrow streets, but I hadn’t had a chance to know the history behind the neighborhood – that is, until Jonatan invited us to a walk and explained its origins.
From the strange signs on a street sign, that were in fact displaying the name of the road in the language of Free People, through the worn-down Red House on the seashore, which amazingly once put a stop to all kinds of epidemics the inhabitants suffered from just a hundred years ago, and finally a social house built by the workers, we got to know the stories and meanings hidden in different parts of La Isleta.
When most of the district is covered in narrow streets, built by people settling one after another with no greater plan, we walked into Plaza del Pueblo, the only spacious part. Once the locals had gathered together to buy the land and create a space to meet and socialize. They shed their blood fighting against the regime. Now it’s a rooftop of a parking – with a small cafe and a room for table tennis. Still, it leaves a kind of bitter aftertaste.
Don’t the people deserve a patch of greenery, just a small pocket park, instead of a concrete-covered square?
But what does the future hold? The last stop was in the part that had been deliberately neglected – where once you could see prostitutes and drug addicts in the street – now being demolished to make space for new skyscrapers. As posh and elegant those look, is it a good idea to squeeze it into a space already dense with buildings, but no other infrastructure?
What about the character of the neighborhood, where every single house reflects the soul of the resident, each in different colour and style?
Kim…
I truly enjoyed the entire guided walk and the authentic stories from the neighbourhood. One of the things that stayed with me was how beautifully history is reflected in traditional Canarian houses.
Jonatan explained how the entrance used to be a lively social space. Doors open, people sitting in the entrance, always ready to welcome neighbours passing by. Meanwhile, the inner patio served a surprising purpose: it was where goats were kept, back when traveling with them was part of daily life.
The way Jonatan shared these details, with such enthusiasm and warmth, made it easy to picture it all so vividly. It brought the past to life in a way I won’t forget.
Cena
Después de un photowalk lleno de contrastes y de inspiradores aprendizajes para cada uno de nosotros. Tuvimos una pequeña cena en nuestro Coliving para artistas y trabajadores remotos en Las Palmas.
