The Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi hosts the central piece of the project Transiting «La Quema». Canto para un monumento funerario [Song for a Funerary Monument] brings together the process of reconstruction and memory that runs through the entire endeavour. The cage comes from San Pedro Fiz de Vilar: it is an everyday object that was loaned to the artist by the neighbourhood association, here transformed through a collective process including the university community and Elena del Rivero herself. Once gilded, the cage becomes an object indicating immateriality and the transcendence of spiritual life. Inside the cage we find glass recipients with the ashes of the artworks that were burnt in October 2024, symbols of the immanence of memory and suspended time.
After the purification of the burning action, Canto para un monumento funerario projects a will to freedom. Fire, taken as a transformational feature, turns the material body into ashes, encapsulated dust as the promise of redemption, calling us to penitence.
Once gilded, this unused, abandoned cage is transformed into a song of light that transcends the spiritual with the urge to reach the divine. This work, based on the mystical notions of Saint Teresa of Jesus, liberates from the enclosure, pointing to a path of perfection that is the advent of a brilliant dawn.
Extramural is a project led by the Museu Tàpies in coordination and exchange with various creators, structures, and institutions. It envisions the city of Barcelona as a space for reflection and dialogue, as well as for articulating and intervening in public space and the environment.
Artist Elena del Rivero and curator Mateo Feijóo are the guests of this edition of the Extramural project, promoted by the Museu Tàpies in collaboration with the Festival Grec Barcelona, Eina Centre Universitari de Disseny i Art, the Basilica of Santa Maria del Pi, Centre d’Art La Capella, Galeria Senda, Loop Festival, Mescladís, and Tantàgora.
Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi
Plaça del Pi, 7 Barcelona
Del 8.07 al 1.10.2025
Monday to Friday from 6 pm to 8 pm; Sunday from 9.30 am to 1 pm
