The BRIDGES project opened an international call last May, in collaboration with the Foundation Contorno Urbano and the global association Hip Hop Works Inc., to participate in the contest ‘BRIDGES Hip-Hop Contest: Challenging migration narratives‘. The purpose of this competition was to promote critical reflection, creativity and imagination about migration narratives from an artistic perspective based on two typical disciplines of Hip Hop culture: Rap and muralism.   

The call was very successful, and 116 people from 24 countries participated in the contest. A specialised international jury was established for each of the categories.   

The winners of the contest were the Colombian rapper Fly so High and the Gaditan muralist Teo Vázquez. During the month of October the artists worked within the framework of participatory processes with the community of the neighborhood of La Florida, in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat (Barcelona, Spain). They visiting various centers and institutions of the neighborhood such as the Institut Escola Pere Lliscart, the Escola Pau Casals, Institut Rubió i Ors, Institut Eduard Fontseré, JAPI Association and the Social Club Relaciona’t. Once the residence was completed, the artists focused on the creative part taking as a reference the experience of the participatory process.   

The rapper Fly So High worked with the renowned interdisciplinary producer and artist Kapi One, a referent of Hip Hop culture in Spain, producing ”El Extraño” (“The stranger”), a fresh song that combines different rhythms that come together in perfect harmony. The artist reflects on the role of migrant people in our society from a social perspective, and explores the most emotional part of being a migrant. The video clip has been made by Mind Game Films, showing an overview of the city, from the centre of Barcelona to the periphery – in this case to the neighborhood of La Florida in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat – focusing on multiculturalism and coexistence in the peripheral cities of Barcelona.  

 Teo Vázquez, on the other hand, focused his work on young migrants and dancing as a universal language, a way to transform dominant and exclusive migration narratives into more inclusive narratives. The Gaditan artist photographed three young dancers from the city, all of them daughters of migrant parents – Zaira from El Salvador, Naik from the Dominican Republic and Estef from Ecuador – depicting a true story of inclusivity that represents many others.

The mural can be found outside the Institut Escola Pere Lliscart, C. Dr. Ramon Solanich i Riera, 2, 08906 L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona. 

In addition to the song, the video clip and the mural, a small documentary has also been made that captures the entire participatory, creative process and the final result.

The documentary, along with the videoclip of the song “El Extraño”, were launched during the Final Conference of the BRIDGES project, in February 2024 in Brussels.