The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, along with the councilor of Moratalaz, Nacho Pezuela, presented today the interactive and accessible route ‘Muraltalaz’ that brings together the various urban art interventions that have been developed in the district in recent months. This initiative aims to invite residents and visitors to explore and discover the different artistic initiatives of Moratalaz.
Almeida highlighted the value of this project because «there are stories worth telling.» Muraltalaz, he explained, «has brought works by renowned artists to the facades of administrative buildings, schools, or sports centers so that residents can enjoy them» and become part of the urban landscape of Madrid and Moratalaz.
During the tour, the mayor emphasized the importance of this initiative not only for art but because it exemplifies the «spirit of this city,» for everyone to enjoy «regardless of the abilities we have.» The collaboration with Ilunion and the ONCE group allows this urban art project to be inclusive of visually impaired people, «an initiative that makes us a better and more inclusive society every day,» he stressed.
To develop this route, informative plaques have been installed at each mural with the name of the work, its author, a brief comment on the meaning of the works, as well as a Navilens code that allows accessibility for visually impaired people.
With these codes, you can access a repository where you can find more content related to the work and the ‘Muraltalaz’ project, such as interviews with the authors, photos of the creative process, and a map showing the locations of the 15 murals in the project.
Navilens codes can be read with two downloadable applications for free. They represent a new model in the world of two-dimensional markers, as they differ from other existing codes such as QR codes or barcodes because the tags can be read up to twenty times farther than an equivalent-sized QR code, without the need to focus. This makes them ideal for blind and visually impaired people as they quickly read the content by pointing the device’s camera.
Furthermore, the applications that read these codes (NaviLens app and NaviLens Go app) are free and feature an innovative sound system that narrates relevant information such as the distance to the code or whether there is enough light to read it. Once you access the content, it provides a detailed description of each mural, made by Ilunion, with the level of detail required by visually impaired individuals.
The next step the district is already working on is adapting part of this content to also facilitate accessibility for people with intellectual disabilities through an easy-to-read system.
Murals within the ‘Muraltalaz’ project
‘Muraltalaz’ is an initiative that features urban art murals in municipal buildings, new and unique focal points in the district, with the aim of becoming references for identity and belonging to Moratalaz. The interactive version of the route can be accessed through this link, which includes, in addition to the location, details about the works and the artists who created them.
Throughout 2024 and up to now, 15 murals have been created by renowned urban art artists from the national and international scene such as PichiAvo, Sfhir, Alegría del Prado, Kalouf, Taquen, Lidia Cao, Murfin, Asem Navarro, Jotalo, Lucas de Farias, Paula Díaz, Reskate, or Zesar Bahamonte. This year, the artists who will leave their mark in the district will be Dulk, Lula Goce, and Diego As, winner of the best mural in the world in 2022. /
