The city of Barcelona was the scene of a unique artistic action: a helicopter dispersed one hundred thousand poems printed on bookmarks over the Gothic Quarter. The event, organized by the Chilean collective Casagrande, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 'Spain in Freedom' campaign and aims to reframe the city's historical memory, particularly in areas affected by bombings during the Civil War.
The performance took place in Plaça Nova and around the Cathedral, areas that suffered severe damage between 1937 and 1939. According to data from the City Council of Barcelona, during this period there were 1,903 impacts and over a million kilograms of bombs, causing approximately 2,700 deaths and 7,000 injuries.
“"The action invites citizens to look at the sky again, but from a new perspective: no longer as a place of danger, but as a space for shared encounter, reading, and reflection."
The poems, by a hundred Catalan and Chilean authors, address themes such as freedom, memory, and their consequences. The collective Casagrande, internationally known for its 'Bombardeo de Poemas' (Poem Bombing) project, has carried out similar actions in nine cities worldwide that have also experienced episodes of political violence, including Rotterdam, Dubrovnik, Berlin, and London.
This initiative is part of the reflection on the Spanish Democratic Transition, which began over 50 years ago after the death of dictator Francisco Franco and culminated with the first democratic elections in 1977 and the approval of the Constitution in 1978.
