Parees Festival Returns to Oviedo for 6th Edition

The Parees Festival has to Oviedo for 2022 and added four more large scale murals to the town. Taking place for the 6th time, the compact Spanish festival has become a popular fixture in the countries street art scene.

Creating murals for this years event were Taxis from Greece; Samir Toumi from Morocco; Mariana Duarte Santos from Portugal and local Asturian artist Nieve Sita. As is often the case with work created for the festival. There is a strong connection with the cultural traditions of the local area of Asturia.

Greek artist Taxis painted a number of different sides on this structure on the Museú del Pueblu d’Asturies (Museum of the People of Asturias)

Often working with vastly different styles the result is that the town is able to look back on a vast collection of excellent street art. Co-ordinated by the art collection Raposu Roxu, the pieces also tend to be collaborations with the local community. Workshops and groups forming to determine the initial direction of the work prior to the artists visioning them onto the walls.

Mural from Portugals Mariana Duarte Santos is dedicated to the greengrocers of the area

Murals of the Parees Fest 6th Edition

Samir Toumi

A family dressed in traditional costume against a backdrop of colour. This is the work of Moroccan artist Samir Toumi who recreated the image from a photograph arranged by Asturian designer Constantino Menéndez. The colours of the mural are inspired by Samir’s native Sahara yet also care has been taken to blend in with the surrounding buildings. “I am a collection of moments, but everything I have is this instant” says Samir about his work.

Taxis

Taxis is the artistic name of Dimitris Trimintzios. Born in Poland and raised in Greece, he has centered his mural on the bicycle as an icon of children’s play. Local children also contributed their ideas with drawings which Taxis was able to take inspiration. Covering three walls, one is dedicated to the tricycle whilst another to the bike with training wheels. The final wall is a mixture of handlebars, wheels and saddles.

A mixture of handlbars, wheels and saddles

Mariana Duarte Santos

Portuguese artist Mariana Duarte Santos created a mural dedicated to the greengrocers of Fontán and their ancestral trade. The result shows the strength of the gaze of one of the women heading to the square every week to sell products from her garden. Based on an image taken in 1968 it has been taken from the collection of photographer Francisco Ruiz Tilve. During her stay in Oviedo, Mariana was able to meet Ruiz Tilve’s family, as well as the greengrocers themselves who currently maintain this local tradition.

Nieve Sita

Asturian artist Nieve Sita is the artistic name for Nieves González. She has summed up the popular Asturian proverb “Si tien arreglu, s’arreglará. Si nun lu tien, arregláu ta” (“if it can be fixed, it will be fixed, if it can’t be fixed, then fixed it is”). The two parts of the saying surround two countrywomen sitting on chairs and holding hands.

The Parees Festival 6th Edition took place during October 2022. It is supported by the Municipal Foundation of Culture of Oviedo and Raposu Roxu amidst a range of sponsors. All images contained in this article are courtesy of Mira Hacia Atras and Fer Alcala. To read more articles about previous iterations of the Parees Festival take a look here.