1. Which voices are unheard behind a world-renowned tradition whose roots are not always acknowledged?
2. And what happens when a culture is admired while the people who have handed it down through generations remain unseen?
3. How can we bring together a nomadic people's history, a village's memories, and a story of a humble dress now turned into a fashion trend?

“The Dress of the Voice” is an original artistic and social research project by Art SyamHope born from a connection with the people, stories and traditions of Benarrabá, a village in Andalusia - and supported by the Rooral Creative Residency Rooral. At the heart of the research is the dress associated with flamenco, explored not simply as an aesthetic object, but especially as a meeting point for memory, identity, cultural heritage and a sense of belonging.

Through interviews, testimonies, observation and artistic experimentation, the project explores the relationship between art, Caló culture, flamenco and collective memory. Behind a dress, a word or a piece of music lie family stories, discrimination experiences, resistance and knowledge that continue to live on through the people who preserve and pass them down.

When words can make roots invisible

What do we name a tradition? And who has the right to identify with the chosen word?

During the research, an important issue emerged around the Spanish expression traje de flamenco, commonly used to refer to the women's dress associated with flamenco. For Caló people, this term can be offensive when it contributes to separating the dress and its tradition from their Caló roots, turning them into a folkloric or regional symbol that appears to belong to everyone, while the contribution of the Caló communities who have kept these traditions alive and passed them down risks becoming invisible.

It is not about declaring that an expression is necessarily offensive to everyone, nor about imposing a single way of naming things. Rather, it is about listening and understanding the historical and personal meaning that an object, such as a dress, can carry.

Recognising these roots does not mean to deny the other influences that have contributed to the flamenco development. Rather, it means ensuring that it's not at the expense of the people and communities it roots back to. This is why, in “El vestido de la voz” (The Dress of the Voice), the local Benarrabá people's contributions are essential to understanding flamenco history, expression forms and oral transmission.

Today, some progress has been made. For example, the Andalusian Flamenco Law recognises the role of the Caló people in the history of flamenco (Junta de Andalucía – Andalusian Flamenco Law). Also, two commemorative dates have been officially recognised: 8 April, International Roma Day (though it isn't officially recognised everywhere internationally) and 22 November, the Day of the Arrival of the Caló People in Andalusia.

However, nationally, daily language still includes expressions that seek to erase or avoid acknowledging Caló's significant contribution to our ethnographic heritage (art, music, cuisine, language, traditional craftsmanship and much more). The aim, however, is to keep moving towards a more inclusive coexistence and social recognition that truly acknowledges this value. convivenza più inclusiva e un riscatto sociale che riconosca questo valore.

Certainly, \\flamenco\\━ recognised by UNESCO as an \\Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity\\ since 2010 ━ would not exist without Caló's commitment. However, despite a painful legacy, they have continued to pass down and preserve this treasure, even without words, through \\ the memory of their own voice\\.

A livello istituzionale spagnolo viene riconosciuto oggi come una tradizione viva, trasmessa attraverso la pratica, l’oralità e le relazioni (Junta de Andalucía – Flamenco e patrimonio culturale immateriale).

Caló: language, identity and historical memory

The Art SyamHope social art research has also led to reflections on the historical memory of Caló communities and the repeated forms of repression inflicted on them in Spain until just a few years ago.

The notes gathered highlight, in particular, the period of Franco’s dictatorship, during which repressive and assimilationist policies targeted Roma people through surveillance, the criminalisation of aspects of their everyday lives, and the persecution of their traditions and economic activities. The notes also document the stigmatisation of Caló, which the authorities described as criminal slang, and the repression of cultural expressions, including those that are now part of flamenco.

This local memory forms part of a broader history of persecution and cultural loss. The Junta de Andalucía itself, in its account of the history of the Roma people in Andalusia, acknowledges that historical persecution has contributed to the loss of a significant part of their culture and language.

Speaking about Caló culture therefore means recognising its ethnographic heritage (art, language, cuisine, cultural practices…), much of which has also been embraced by Spanish culture itself. But it also means making space for the people who keep its traces alive through family relationships, stories, gestures and shared experiences.

Within the Genal Valley, Benarrabá offers a real-life example of positive coexistence with the Caló community. A key figure in this story is Manuel Núñez Romero (born in 1948), known as Manolete. In interviews with artist Sofia Candeo of Art SyamHope, he shares a remarkable piece of local history: thanks to the family tradition into which he and his brothers Luis and Simón Núñez were born, flamenco came to Benarrabá and gradually spread throughout the village.

The dress reflects this tension, too. Among the memories gathered in Benarrabá, Manolete recalls his grandmothers Ana and Rafaela wearing long, colourful skirts, decorative traditional combs and flowers in their hair every day. The elements now associated with the imagery of the flamenco dress were, in these memories, part of daily life and a way of dressing rooted in humility and rural life.

The testimony of Toñi Núñez, Manolete’s great granddaughter and a social expert, offers an additional perspective, highlighting the distinction between “coexistence” and “integration”, as well as the importance of carefully choosing the words and expressions we use and often take for granted in everyday life:

"El vestido de la voz" really comes as a wish to listen to and preserve Benarrabá and its people's history.

The Núñez family:

The flamenco as a shared heritage in Benarrabá

A deep part of the research is related to the Núñezs presence in the Benarrabá Flamenco history.

Through the interviews conducted by artist Sofia Candeo of Art SyamHope, Manolete emerges as a living piece of history, through whom family stories, migration, music and village life intertwine. Born in 1948 and brought to Benarrabá as a child, Manolete recalls his family’s journey, marked by war and persecution, which eventually led them to Benarrabá.

Here, following their family tradition, Manolete and his brothers Simón and Luis Núñez spread Flamenco singing and playing music, eventually founding the Peña Flamenca in the 1970s.

After Simón and Luis passed away, friends and local people who had shared moments of their lives with them wanted to keep the memory and artistic legacy of the two brothers alive. So, in 2013, with the family’s support, the “Simón y Luis Núñez” Flamenco and Cultural Association was founded. For years, it organised a festival featuring renowned artists such as Camarón de la Isla.

The memories shared by Carmen Núñez, Manolete’s daughter, highlight the deeply collective nature of that experience, in which families, friends and locals all contributed towards covering the costs of the performances.

Over time, the festival has become an established event in Benarrabá’s cultural life. Even today, it continues to be shaped by relationships, shared commitment and recognition of a tradition kept alive not only by members of the family or the Caló community, but also by all the friends and associations who recognise the value of flamenco tradition and its roots, as embodied by Luis and Simón Núñez.

Recognising this history means understanding that flamenco has not always been the performance we know today, shaped by commercialisation:

Flamenco carries an inner history of suffering, a struggle to endure and continue sharing its art coming from the heart through voice and rhythm. Its roots lie in values of humility, sharing and rural life, in the community and in generations which Flamenco brings together, through real people, their families and relationships built over time.

«I can't live without Flamenco»

During the artistic research for The Dress of the Voice, a question put to Manolete opened up a reflection on the essence of flamenco: what does it represent to him?

«I can't live without Flamenco»
- Manolete (from the interview at Tere's Bar, Benarrabà)

He adds that flamenco comes from the diaphragm and the heart: you have to be born with it and feel it within you, because technique, although it can be learned, is not enough.

His daughter and poet Carmen describes an equally deep connection with flamenco. Even though she cannot sing, play an instrument or perform the characteristic flamenco handclapping rhythm, she has lived with this art at home since childhood, with her father Manolete and her uncle always singing, especially during celebrations and gatherings shared in the streets of the village. Today, she keeps these memories alive by sharing this passion with her children and writing poetry.

These testimonies bring to life a dimension of flamenco that art keeps alive through memory, listening and participation.

And we can learn that the cultural wisdom is not just in the past but keeps living in the body, breath, rhythm, and the memory of who has lived a tradition on their skin.

The hands that guard the memory:

The dressmakers' know-how and the Flamenco textile context

Alongside the testimonies connected to flamenco, the research also encountered the knowledge and expertise of dressmakers María Barranco García and Mónica Crişan.

Through their interviews, the research explored the textile context of the dress as we know it today. It also emerged that the dress is given different names depending on how it is cut, sewn and adorned, with contemporary styles increasingly shaped by fashion rather than tradition, often overlooking its Caló origins.

Every dress also tells a relationship between material and person, in which colours, patterns, volumes and shapes can express preferences, personality and moods. Choosing what to wear is not just about outward appearance, but also about how a person wishes to feel and present themselves to the world.

These skills require time and physical strength, too (just imagine how heavy a dress made from at least 14 metres of fabric can be!). Thanks to the people who keep them alive, manual and craft skills are passed down through the generations, allowing this flamenco performance tradition to be appreciated today for its visual beauty during “Las ferias” and “Romerías” (festivals eagerly awaited throughout the year and of great importance in Andalusia).

To create starting from the site: having the artist present on-site brings value

Artistic practice thus becomes a form of collective participation, using art to give voice to the present-day needs of the local area. Rather than arriving with a preconceived idea and treating the place as merely a backdrop, it means observing with curiosity, listening to people and using art to bring together the stories and history of Benarrabá.

Working with a community takes time, responsibility and sensitivity.

Artistic research can create opportunities for people to come together, but it must do so while respecting local identity and avoiding the transformation of culture into a commercial image intended solely for tourist consumption. For this reason, El vestido de la voz seeks, with humility and cariño, to help preserve the stories of the people of Benarrabá and give them a voice, so that their stories can be heard through art. It also seeks to bring the tradition of flamenco into the light, helping people understand its history, even when the beauty of a fashionable dress takes centre stage in the eyes of modern consumer culture, turning it into an aesthetic product that is increasingly distant from its humble origins.

This awareness is particularly important when working with cultural heritage shaped by discrimination and processes of erasure. The beauty of a tradition should never become a reason to forget the hardships endured by those who have kept it alive.

Art SyamHope: art, investigation and human connection

At Art SyamHope, artistic creation is understood as a human opportunity to explore stories, identities and social relationships through a sensitive, contemporary perspective. “El vestido de la voz” reflects this approach: researching before representing, listening before interpreting, and recognising the complexity of the cultures we encounter.

The creative process creates value and builds human connections. This approach can open up new possibilities for cultural projects, community initiatives, creative ventures and organisations that wish to tell their own story and express their identity beyond familiar narratives, without losing sight of the people and experiences that give them meaning.

Through artistic research and cultural collaboration, stories can find new forms of expression and be heard: an artwork, a participatory project, a publication or an experience that brings people together and preserves history while celebrating the present.

To recognise everyone's participation, and thanks to the support of Benarrabá Town Council, we gave a free copy to everyone who took part in the project and made additional copies available to other local residents at a symbolic price of €2. If you would also like to explore El vestido de la voz in greater depth, you can now do so through its official publication on Amazon (currently available in Spanish only): support “El vestido de la voz” and future Art SyamHope social projects.

Click here to receive "El vestido de la voz"

The book brings together photographs from the interviews, paintings, natural materials and an in-depth artistic exploration of the social, historical and textile context from which the dress originates, as just one small part of the wider flamenco tradition.

You will discover the journey from flamenco’s origins in India, through the kathak dance tradition, to how and why flamenco, together with its dress, has become an internationally recognised symbol of Andalusia today, despite the repression suffered by the Caló people from whose culture it emerged.

It is striking to see how what is now a luxurious, festive dress – and one that can cause discomfort for those who have never been able to afford it – actually comes from humble roots. It is, instead, a product of resilience, born from the need to transform pain through art: flamenco.

Roots nourish the future

“El vestido de la voz” is an invitation to look more deeply into traditions: to celebrate their beauty without erasing their history, to share them without depriving communities of their voice, and to build narratives in which cultural diversity is recognised with dignity. Because a tradition is honoured not only by admiring its aesthetic, but also by recognising its roots, listening to the people who keep it alive and embracing it in the present.

Do you have a story which needs to be heard?

At Art SyamHope, we support creative processes that bring art, culture and human experience together.

If you have a cultural initiative, a local story or a project you would like to share through new forms of expression, we can explore together how to develop it through research, listening and artistic creation.

Let’s talk about the stories that are still waiting to be heard and shared. Get in touch:

CAN'T WAIT TO MEET YOU!

On this page, you can discover my latest artistic updates and follow the art exhibitions where I take part as both artist and manager. I invite you to explore the world of art and experience SyamHope’s artworks firsthand through upcoming artistic and cultural events.

Art SyamHope around the city

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THE DRESS OF THE VOICE: DIFFERENT GENERATIONS AND CULTURES COME TOGETHER THROUGH THE FLAMENCO

Saturday 24 October 2026 | 19:00 Sala Multiusos, Benarrabá, Málaga

“The Dress of the Voice” is an original social research project by Art SyamHope that preserves the history of the village of Benarrabá, nestled in the mountains of Málaga, by collecting its local people's memories, emotions and testimonies into an artist book. Written notes, drawings and original artworks come together in this artist book to tell the story of how Flamenco brings generations and cultures together in Benarrabá, focusing not on the fashion of the dress itself, but on everything it represents on a social, cultural and historical level through art.

At this event, we’ll share the results, but stay tuned, because the printed art book “The Dress of the Voice” is coming soon too!

Get contacts and bookings at the following email address:

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Ephemeral Architecture: an international festival of site specific pop-up installations

All september 2026 | Córdoba city (check the map)

“Efímera” is a conscious pop-up architecture festival that brought together international artists and architecture students in the city of Córdoba, Spain, creating site-specific installations dedicated to local culture and tradition, while respecting and harmonising with its nature.

Discover the artworks through this installation map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/CTRhzyT2NdjVgWZDA

“Sacred Blooming” is the installation in which the artist Sofia Candeo, known as Art SyamHope takes part as the team leader, together with architecture students Azra Kaya and Carlo de Paoli, in the courtyard of the Museum of Fine Arts and Julio Romero de Torres in Córdoba, Spain.

In this installation, the powerful message of resilience encourages visitors to overcome tragic moments through a geometry that references the local sacred culture and tradition, as well as the material used for the petals (the thermal blanket). Furthermore, the work interacts with the courtyard through light, shadows and the reflections of water upon the petals. If you come to visit it, you will also find a game and a mathematical challenge designed to explore the proportions and equations of the city.

“Efímera” 2026 edition presents a total of five installations involving international students and artists at some of the city's key and most representative locations in Córdoba, thanks to the collaboration of:
Fundación Kutxabank @fundacionkutxabank
Fundación Arquitectura Contemporánea @funarco
Restaurante Amaltea @restauranteamaltea
C3A — Junta de Andalucía @c3a_andalucia
Teulo @teulo_cpdplatform

And the organisation of:
Fundación Artdecor @fundacionartdecor
MUDD Architects @mudd_architects
AA School London @aaschool

Street art x ARWhat you see is only the beginning.

Opening 4th of April 2026 | 17:30 ? Galerie Mega, metro Palackého náměstí, Prague, Czech Republic

Join us for the opening of the international exhibition School ARt Gallery, where street art, education, and digital technologies meet.

Read the article written by our guys, find it in our art blog: What does it mean growing up to you? Leaving a mark with urban art

The works were created across Europe — in schools, through collaboration between students, teachers, and artists. They begin on the wall. They come to life on screen. Augmented reality reveals new layers — stories not visible at first glance.

With international partners and artists present:Mistaker Maker, Fundación XUL, CRHACK LAB, Consozio Ro.MA, David Strauzz, Tiago Hesp, Sofia Cande, Rinor Marku and collaborating students from local schools.

niñez adulta, un omaggio all’atto del crescere

8 Agosto 2025 – 01 Aprile 2026 Sala La Zuharda, El Tejar de Azuel, Cordova, Spagna

The “Adult Childhood” collection represents a series of paintings developed through a creative process of revaluing artistic materials. The true value of these masterpieces lies above all in their history and emotions, a tribute to the act of growing up, which—through our passions—allows us to relive childhood. It is an inner journey that calls for speaking about emotions, giving them space to emerge, play, dream, and allow ourselves to be happy.

Special greetings to people who have already visited my art exhibition and left these awesome dedications!

12ª Quejío, Córdoba con Grito de Mujer - Art Exhibition

From 6th to 27th of March 2026 Biblioteca Central, Cordova Spain

Art SymHope presents some paintings from “Morocco, On the Road”, print from a travel sketchbook and “Abuela Guanche”, portrait on canva from a Rapid Painting Contest in Las Palmas, Canarie

AR - Augmented Reality & Art Education

Workshops and Projects applied to Steam Education

Con il patrocinio di XUL Foundation and School Art Gallery, Art Syamhope promuove attività mirate nelle scuole e negli spazi artistici per introdurre l’AR (Realtà Aumentata) nell’educazione artistica sia per adulti che per bambini.

Limited spots available and only for previous bookings. For more information or to bring this project to your educational centre, please get in touch through this form:

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If you want sponsor Art Syamhope or you want to include it in your Artistic Production contact me to know the open projects related to social and artistic research.

I remember your that my specialization are Paining and Illustration, but I also do Live Art Performance Facepainting, Comic, Mural Art, and Art Management. By clicking here you'll get directly to my mail, text me here:

Who's going to teach us how to look, now?

For centuries, literacy has been one of our democratic society's achievements, but today it's no longer simply about deciphering words but about “translating” images.

Never before have we produced so many images. Rise Above Research estimates that by 2026, around 1.95 trillion photographs will be taken worldwide, mostly on mobile phones. That's more than five billion photos every single day. Yet the true meaning lies much beyond this wide range of numbers: in fact, images have become one of the ordinary ways to record, share and make sense of reality in our society.

For centuries, literacy opened the door to knowledge, participation in public life and active citizenship. But it's worth remembering that literacy has never been solely about reading words. At its core, it has always been about learning how to interpret: placing things in context, making comparisons, distinguishing facts from opinions, recognising intentions and forming our own judgements.

In this sense, reading was a school of interpretation. The question, then, is whether we have developed an equivalent and actual approach in which an increasing amount of meaning reaches us not through text but through images. This is not about setting written culture against visual culture - nor suggesting that reading matters any less. Quite the opposite: precisely because reading has been our most demanding exercise in critical judgement, we should ask ourselves what would happen if we applied the same rigour to images.

We tend to think of looking as something immediate, almost instinctive. Seeing, after all, is a biological ability. But looking is a cultural practice, and understanding what we see requires context, references and learning. Just as nobody develops strong reading skills without reading widely, it's hard to interpret images without building a certain degree of visual literacy. Good judgement needs raw material: we need to have seen, compared, recognised patterns and learned to question what appears to be obvious.

That's why visual culture is about more than simply accumulating images. It's also about training the eye. Seeing more doesn't automatically mean understanding more, but genuine understanding often comes from having seen enough to make meaningful connections.

A simple example illustrates this well. When we look at The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch today, we don't see the same thing his contemporaries saw. Between that work and our own perspective stand centuries of painting, photography, cinema, television, advertising, video games and the internet. The point here isn't creativity, but interpretation: an image is never received in isolation. We see it through what we already know, what we've seen before and the cultural frameworks we've absorbed, often without even realising it.

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The New Sight Literacy: Who's going to teach us now?

This idea has a long intellectual history. John Berger's Ways of Seeing, published in 1972 and based on his BBC series, became a landmark work for understanding how we engage with images. Erwin Panofsky distinguished between describing what appears in an image, identifying its iconographic conventions and interpreting its deeper cultural meaning. W. J. T. Mitchell introduced the concept of the “pictorial turn” to describe the growing importance of the visual in contemporary culture.

Once, it seemed like a concern only for art historians, semioticians, and visual-culture scholars. Today, it has become an essential civic skill. Images don't simply illustrate ideas: they create, organise and give them emotional force. A photograph can evoke compassion or fear before we've even formed an argument. A meme can communicate a political stance faster than an editorial.

The rise of generative artificial intelligence makes this issue even more imperative. For decades, one of the first questions we had been asking about an image was whether it represented reality faithfully. Today, we have to ask a question at its source: does this image even depict a real event?

Arts and humanities play a key role here: art history, philosophy, aesthetics and semiotics have long explored how forms create meaning. Teaching people how to look at a painting, a photograph, an advertisement, a viral video or an AI-generated image is not an intellectual luxury; it's about teaching them how to ask questions about reality itself.

If literacy was the great educational project of the age of print, interpretation may become the defining educational challenge of the digital era. So, learning how to read images is a vital part of this task — not to replace words, but because more and more meaning now circulates visually, and we need citizens who can understand, question it and engage with it critically.

Images don't simply reflect the world; they help shape it. And that is why one of the great questions of our time is whether we are truly learning how to interpret what we see.

Original Post on Forbes, authorized reproduction and translation by the author

And in a way, artificial intelligence does democratise art. People who lack the skills or who are prevented by disabilities from creating can now do so — even through something as simple as voice. And if speaking isn’t an option, AI widely opens up other accessible ways to a more inclusive creative process.

There are, undeniably, positive aspects. But perhaps you're missing the key point… and it’s precisely the reason why the creative role cannot simply disappear, even in the age of artificial intelligence.

In this article, I want to go beyond the usual surface-level takes on AI to explore another perspective that technological progress tends to make invisible at first glance.

Because while technology expands possibilities and can improve quality of life, it also pushes us to normalise — and eventually expect — comfortAnd comfort is not always as harmless for human beings as it first appears.

Uncomfortable comfort

If there’s something we tend to attribute to technology, it’s speed: thanks to the inventions of the last few centuries, the pace of life has completely changed and has become incredibly fast. This gives us a huge level of productivity and the ability to get everything we want immediately. But…

We're not used to

waiting anymore.

We take for granted that if we send a message, the other person will reply within seconds, or at most in a few minutes. And what about how great it's to order your favourite dish — the one you never feel like cooking? It arrives right at your door; you don’t have to cook, and you even avoid washing up or tidying up the kitchen…

At the same time a system that pushes you to rush, and yet keeps you from doing anything. Even so, we can’t do nothing either: we need a distraction to which the phone responds with incredible ease.

In fact, although we seemingly have access to infinite inspirational sources, in the end it turns into a time trap, where we spend hours “looking for inspiration” only to realise that we no longer have any free time, or that everything already exists anyway. It's so overwhelming the wide and constant information availability that our brains end up overloaded, and due to this stimulus over-saturation, we lose the desire, energy, and time to do anything outside our working routine.

Moreover, on a deeper and perhaps more subtle level, AI can generate insecurity or a reduced sense of self-criticism, as it tends to confirm the user’s proposed perspective and to replace personal responsibility when making a decision: “I don’t know, I’ll ask AI.” In this way, it gradually ends up weakening our connection with our inner “self”.

Unlike contemporary society and its constant race against time, art is upstream: thought and creation require time, observation, and silence.

Perhaps this awareness has been lost over time, but we should remember that from as early as prehistory, art has accompanied humanity, emerging precisely from the need to express oneself through cave painting.

And art teaches us precisely how to face the discomfort of silence, because it is there that creation is born.

Moreover, today we know that creating, drawing, painting, as well as any artistic discipline, means so much more once we confront the discomfort of silence:

• To create requires courage — we have to go on, and sometimes it feels almost like jumping into the void.
• Creating teaches us to stay with our emotions, to accept that they exist.
• It teaches us to listen to emotions, to people, and to the environment around us.

• It then allows us to give a direction to those emotions.
• Creating teaches patience: deep creation takes time.
• It teaches us to care for the process; in doing so, we also learn to care for others and for the world around us — it teaches us delicacy.
• Finally, creating allows us to Be, meaning to exist as a person and not merely as a productive tool.

We are deeply concerned about AI being used to create images — images that, to untrained eyes, are accepted as “beautiful” and legitimate. As a contemporary artist myself, faced with this reality, I’ve instead asked: what if we did the opposite? In other words, instead of using artificial intelligence to “create” art, what if we used it not to replace art, but to support it?

Is it possible to use artificial intelligence at the service of art? From this question emerges a creative research such as Arte SyamHope, which has led me to explore whether it is possible to transform this very operation:

So I carried out an experiment: starting from original Arte SyamHope artworks and studies, created using traditional techniques, I asked AI to generate human models that would embody my works.

from IA = ARTE to ARTE > IA

In other words, I reversed the process, using art as a tool for imagining and AI as a tool for copying from the new reality I had created (the paintings).

In this way, it demonstrates a new art function, one that is freed from the act of copying — a role long tied to classical tradition as a means of narrating real and historical events — and returns instead to its original function as a form of individual and social expression.

After this investigation, I deduce the following:

Leave a comment and let us know how you find this investigation inspiring!

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The creative process behind an artwork

We have worked on an urban art project with augmented reality as part of our art classes, during the last months, but it will remain in our hearts all our lives long.

We started with long theoretical classes, which were nevertheless not boring at all; there we started drawing the music: we translated on paper the feelings inspired by a melody, in order to better focus and stimulate our creativity. We started every class the same way, and later we debated deeply about what we wanted to represent in our mural.

After careful consideration, we identified our social message aiming at leave a lasting mark in our school and instil confidence in those who join it.

Painting our mural together

After producing several sketches, we drew inspiration from nature and, by designing various leaves from the garden, created stencils to incorporate them into the mural; finally, Sofía (Art SyamHope) added the finishing touches, thus completing the final design. At last, after several classes spent reflecting and developing the art project, we set to work on our mural.

First, we prepared the wall by sanding, cleaning, and smoothing it as thoroughly as possible in order to achieve a much better result. Once the surface had been prepared, we began painting.

We began with a yellow background, that is, the entire surface of our external building target.

On the main façade, the one facing the street, we created a green shaded circle and, within it, we drew two hands—one larger and one smaller—to represent the people who come and go, passing through the centre and the neighbourhood.

On the left and right walls, we created trees to symbolise growth, incorporating the leaf stencils we had prepared in class. Finally, Sofía added the finishing touches.

To conclude, we first tidied up and cleaned everything, and then we sat down for a moment to share about what we experienced. As a final reflection on the day, we spoke again about our intention behind the mural and what we wished to represent through it.

Photographers: Yevhen Strakhov, Alexander García, Luis Rivera, Rafa González

Leaving a mark: for those who come and go, passing through the centre and the neighbourhood

We came to the conclusion that, beyond leaving our own mark and bidding a meaningful farewell to our school, we wanted to demonstrate how important teamwork and respect among classmates are, as they are ultimately the greatest treasure we take with us.

Durante questi lunghi quattro anni non ci sono state solo le lezioni di letteratura, storia o matematica, ma anche la famiglia che abbiamo creato tra compagni, il fatto di essere cresciuti insieme accettando i nostri pregi e difetti e avendo ogni giorno un sostegno incondizionato e una gioia nel venire a scuola.

In addition to our emotional growth, we also wish to address all the boys and girls who arrive at our school with fear, seeking in some way to show that at the Grupo Cántico school there should be no fear, but rather love, care, and great trust.

With this reflection, I conclude this brief summary of the beautiful project we have been fortunate enough to carry out thanks to our wonderful art teacher Manuel García, our organiser Sofía Cande (Art SyamHope), and the Xul Foundation.

None of this would have been possible without you all!

Urban art meets technology: AR

As a final note, you should know that this mural also hides a surprise: with the ArtiVive app, you can scan the mural, activating its augmented reality. If you are unable to visit in person to experience the AR, you can watch it in this video:

Art & Health: Social Portraits

The associations ACODA and La Casa Azul have been building a relationship of trust, which was consolidated with a Framework Collaboration Agreement in 2022. This agreement goes far beyond art: it provides Health support through Art and aims to shed light and raise social awareness on Ataxia-affected people through artistic languages, in the province of Córdoba, Spain.

In the same year, Sofia Candeo, in Art Syamhope, began her artistic, professional and social collaboration with the Association La Casa Azul as a young artist and creative assistant. They first contacted when she proposed to them her unreleased artistic project "Autoprojection in colours"; this same project has matured into a more participative and Art&Health centred formula. We present it today as "Social Portraits" - where art becomes a tool to offer solidarity and support a very delicate health situation.

In 2023 the project Horizonte Solidario was launched in collaboration with the flamenco guitarist Rafael Trenas: an awareness-raising movement that uses artistic languages to express and share the Ataxia people's emotions, dispersed geographically throughout our province. It represents a call for empathy and collaboration and includes a variety of artistic actions (from photography to audiovisual production and podcasts), culminating in a major charity concert. These initiatives not only seek to increase ataxia visibility but also to raise essential funds to support those facing this condition.

Horizonte Solidario led to the spontaneous painting of landscapes by participants living with ataxia, paving the way for this new project of Social Portraits: a structural collaboration aligned with this conscious and artistic movement, conceived through dialogue among the three parties and integrating the real needs of Ataxia people.

Sofia Candeo: Inspired Art

There’s heart in art, and art in the heart

Sofia Candeo, in Art Syamhope, is an international visual artist whose work is inspired by human investigation and travel. Over the years, she has maintained her multidisciplinary approach by exploring the creative process, with a particular focus on painting and illustration as tools for emotional, cultural and human exploration. Her applied educational methodology, grounded in active participation, draws inspiration from the Montessori approach and integrates her background and interest in both the human sciences and mediation, through traditional techniques and the materials revalorization.

Following her studies at the Comics Academy of Visual Art and New Media in Padua, her city of origin, she began her professional artistic career in Córdoba, Spain. There, she continued with artistic experimentation at the Escuela Antonio Povedano and the Contemporary Art Centre C3A. She also took part in artist residencies with YAP (El Saucejo and Navarredonda) and Arte Viva (Los Blázquez), as well as in local and international art fairs such as FADAC (Seville) and THAF (London), among others. In recent years, she has received several awards in open-air rapid painting competitions, including the 17th Pedro Lobato Hoyos Prize, 2023 edition, in Ubrique (Cádiz), and an Honourable Mention in Cañete de las Torres (Córdoba). She was also invited to participate as a guest artist in La Noche en Blanco in Málaga (2024 and 2025 editions), presenting a live painting performance. Alongside, her ongoing professional engagement continues: she contributes to the design, production and direction of socially oriented artistic and cultural projects as Assistant Artistic Director at the Contemporary Creation and Cultural Production Centre La Casa Azul, and works as a painting educator for Córdoba City Council in municipal Civic Centres, as well as in early childhood education at the Zinnia Art Academy for painting and ceramics.

This trajectory naturally positions her at the intersection of art, emotion, experience and community, providing a solid foundation for work within care and mental health contexts through art.

Some Successful Real Cases

Social-Artistic Project for and with people:

2022-2026 |Horizonte Solidario, an artistic movement for health in collaboration with ACODA and La Casa Azul

2025-2026|AR & Urban Art, Urban Art and Augmented Reality in schools, XUL Foundation & SAG, EU

2025–2026 | Art Education for Children, Zinnia Children’s Art Academy, Córdoba

2025 |Libro Libre, Urban Art with participatory intervention involving painting students from Taller Lola

2025|Niñez Adulta, art exhibition and emotional painting workshops in Azuel, Córdoba

2023–2025 | Social Painting, supporting visual arts education as an emotional tool at Córdoba City Council

2024-2025|India, Kerala Edition, participatory and socially engaged travel journal created in Thiruvananthapuram

2024|Women, portraying and listening to the stories of the women of Los Blázquez, Artist Residency, Córdoba

2023–2024 | Becoming, travel journal, exhibition and social photography project in Morocco

2023 | Volunteer Course and Diploma , Córdoba Volunteer Platform

2021- 2022|Autoprojection in colours, an original multicultural artistic project promoting integration and social inclusion through colour perception and self-perception

2019 | YAP (Youth Action for Peace): Paint it in Colours, an international group of young participants created mural works for the local communities of El Saucejo and Navarredonda

2014-2017|OMG (Mato Grosso Organization)volunteer work supporting poor communities in Latin America, Italy

Linked References:

Serendipity: Done is better than perfect

I've got closer to art education by working with kids at an art academy: surprisingly, even from such a young age, we cling to perfection. But whose perfection? In fact, as kids don't have any filters, they don't even have enough experience to define their idea of perfection yet.

Some kids also say: "It's not working" or "I'm not good at it"

In theory, any child ALWAYS knows how to draw -it's an expressive ludic tool and their best tool. Though if they do say it, it means someone adult or older said they couldn't or shouldn't do it, not in that way or tried to teach them a better way out. One day, every little drop adds up, and the child blocks and turns insecure, so as not to enjoy drawing anymore.

Cornejo, Loretta. Manual of Gestalt Therapy with Children. Desclée De Brouwer, p. 60.
(traduzione personale)

With the latest art exhibition “Adult Childhood”, we explored a closely related theme: the importance of reconnecting with our inner child and allowing ourselves a space to express our emotions freely. Likely, today we'll look at what arts can offer and how a great guide can really change someone's creative process; here education becomes essential for both children and adults.

And you? Have you ever found yourself guiding someone? On the other hand, can you remember when someone guided you?

La figura dell’educatore mi ricorda molto quella di un funambolo: alla ricerca dell’equilibrio ottimo tra l’accompagnare e non imporre, il tutto senza lasciarsi sbilanciare dal proprio peso, o meglio, dal proprio bagaglio personale, routine stressante e giornate frenetiche.

Let’s explore two educational perspectives that can inspire parents, educators, and adults who wish to rediscover their passion for art: art education and arts education. Each provides valuable and cross-cultural skills that go far beyond the artistic context.

art educationvs arts education

Educational targets of both art practice and culture aren't just about knowing artworks, but much deeper and often hidden at first sight. Even though we commonly talk just about art education in general, we can differentiate between two perspectives.

What does art education aim to do?

• Sensibility and observation development

Art education trains your sight and patience: you learn to watch even when you don't get it at once; you also become more sensitive so as to notice details, shapes, colours and therefore understand complex artworks step by step.

• Free personal expression

Art is often ambiguous, which can make you feel insecure. Try instead to take advantage of it and focus on the emotions it evokes in you. How does it relate to your personal experience?

• Better critical and creative thinking

L’educazione artistica insegna anche a fare e farsi domande, non solo a dare risposte ma a mettere in discussione ciò che sembra ovvio. Prendila come un gioco, non c’è per forza LA risposta corretta.

• Comprendere il contesto culturale e sociale

L’arte non nasce nel vuoto e spesso persino la scelta della tecnica e dei materiali è condizionata dal tempo e dal luogo, altre volte invece viene ricercata per trasmettere un messaggio. Conoscendo la storia dell’arte è possibile capire come l’arte risponde a temi sociali, politici, ambientali del presente e sviluppare consapevolezza culturale e storica.

• Sviluppare empatia e ascolto

Come abbiamo visto in precedenza, l’arte si collega alle nostre esperienze personali e allo stesso modo suscita negli altri altre emozioni e punti di vista. Attraverso l’arte impariamo che esistono punti di vista ed interpretazioni diversi, impariamo così a confrontarci e dialogare

Quali sono gli obiettivi dell’educazione alle arti?

• Coltivare il rapporto con il tempo e la produttività

In un mondo veloce, sia andare a una mostra d’arte sia creare arte insegnano a rallenta: il processo di creazione ha bisogno di tempo, di lentezza, di fermarsi a osservare, conoscere il silenzio e allenare la concentrazione; imparare che l’arte non è solo il risultato ma valorizzare ogni momento come parte del processo e quindi imparare un concetto diverso di produttività che non si basa sul produrre costante e di corsa, ma sulla sensibilità.

A questo proposito può ispirarti molto il concetto di Serendipity secondo cui un’attitudine positiva al cambiamento e all’imparare, combinata con la casualità porta a risultati inaspettati rispetto al nostro obiettivo iniziale, diciamo a una sorta di “fortuna” che può sorprenderci e portarci a risultati inaspettati. Mi ha sopreso moltissimo conoscerne l’origine, ti condivido questo articolo interessante della Rivista Cultura per approfondire l’etimologia della parola “Serendipità” (Serendipity): La favola dei tre principi di Serendippo, radice del paradigma indiziario, di Melissa Pignatelli

• Educare lo sguardo e leggere i materiali

Insegnare arte, in quanto a tecnica, permette di stimolare tutti i sensi, non solo la vista: imparare a riconocere diversi materiali, ognuno diverso tra loro e con le proprie caratterische, come la vivacità dei colori, lo spessore, l’odore, addirittura il suono quando li usiamo (pensa a quanto è diverso usare una matita e usare la pittura).

• Sviluppare capacità espressive e comunicative

L’arte è un linguaggio, in Art SyamHope's Urban Art parliamo soprattutto di pittura e disegno, ma non dimentichiamoci che l’arte ha moltissime discipline ed ognuna muove delle corde diverse: se la pittura lavora il tatto e l’osservazione, il ballo lavora il corpo e il movimento, il canto la voce e l’ascolto… Tu con che disciplina ti senti più comod@?

Con l’arte impartiamo a usare materiali e tecniche come strumenti di comunicazione per tradurre pensieri, emozioni e idee in forme, movimenti, opere d’arte.

• Stimolare creatività e pensiero divergente

L’insegnamento dell’arte educa a prendere parola, a sperimentare e trovare modalità personali di espressione. Una figura educatrice capace, accompagna e invita a uscire dalla zona di confort del copiare o imitare per scoprire la tua immaginazione e creatività. È un esercizio costante di libertà mentale.

• Promuovere consapevolezza di sé e degli altri

Imparando a conoscerti attraverso l’arte e il tuo modo di esprimerti puoi prenderti cura anche della tua salute emozionale, fisica e mentale. La creazione artistica insegna avere compassione con sè stessi e con gli altri.

In sintesi

L’insegnamento dell’arte teorico e pratico mira a formare persone con una maggiore sensibilità, consapevolezza di sè e della società, contribuendo non solo al benessere individuale, ma anche al benessere sociale.

In sintesi, l’eucazione artistica è quella più teorica, intesa come materia e come storia dell’arte, per capirne i meccanismi e fondamenti, spesso ci dà un’infarinatura dell’arte e ci permette di capire non solo i grandi classici ma anche l’arte contemporanea; mentre l’educazione alle arti è pratica e conduce allo sviluppo di capacità espressive attraverso tecniche artistiche (ricordiamo che oltre alla pittura ci sono molte altre arti come la danza, il teatro, la fotografía e non solo).

Conoscere l’importanza dell’arte nell’educazione e da dove può venire il blocco creativo è un modo anche per superare la paura del foglio bianco ed iniziare un percorso di accompagnamento alla creazione che ti aiuti a ritrovare la motivazione per disegnare e dipingere, a far sì che anche i tuoi figli possano imparare un approccio diverso: l’arte come strumento per esprimersi, divertirsi e semplicemente giocare!

Lascia un commento e raccontaci cosa ne pensi!

On this page, you can discover my latest artistic updates and follow the art exhibitions where I take part as both artist and manager. I invite you to explore the world of art and experience SyamHope’s artworks firsthand through upcoming artistic and cultural events.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO FEATURE ART SYAMHOPE IN YOUR EVENTS?

You can book personalised art masterpieces, live art and art management for your cultural events.

Save the Date!!

niñez adulta, dedicated to the growing-up process

Starting from the 8th of August – Ongoing Sala La Zuharda, El Tejar de Azuel, Cordoba, Spain

The “Adult Childhood” collection represents a series of paintings developed through a creative process of revaluing artistic materials. The true value of these masterpieces lies above all in their history and emotions, a tribute to the act of growing up, which—through our passions—allows us to relive childhood. It is an inner journey that calls for speaking about emotions, giving them space to emerge, play, dream, and allow ourselves to be happy.

Special greetings to people who have already visited my art exhibition and left these awesome dedications!

Looking through Biodiversity with Art – Environmental Educational Centre, Cordova Centro di educazione ambientale

Friday, 12th of December 2025: “The Tiger’s Movement”, gestual drawing workshop from 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm.
Saturday, 13th of December 2025: “Nature’s Footprint”, modelling workshop from 10:00 am to 1:30 pm.

Book you spot at the workshop here: Art Workshop Form

Limited spots; please, if you're finally unavailable to come, inform us - another person would love to get this chance.

See you there!

Flora on paper, Collective Art Exhibition

12th to 25th of October 2025 , Palacio de Viana, Cordoba, Spain

The Urban Sketchers's group organises this collective art exhibition showing a diversity of artworks inspired by the ephemeral art created during the FLORA Festival's past editions.

SyamHope takes part in it with the following masterpieces:

In the Collage: Diputación, Flora 2021, Installation: Tableau, artists: Julius Vaernes' collective (on the left-top); Museo Arqueológico 2021, Installation: "Mirage: Reflections of Paradise", Artists: Inés Urquijo and Nuria Mora

Graphite on paper: Posada del Potro, Flora 2021, Artist: Terabitia
Installation: Desideratum (The desire strenght)

AR - Augmented Reality & Art Education

Workshops and Projects applied to Steam Education

Con il patrocinio di XUL Fundation e School Art Gallery, Art Syamhope promuove attività mirate nelle scuole e negli spazi artistici per introdurre l’AR (Realtà Aumentata) nell’educazione artistica sia per adulti che per bambini.

Limited spots available and only for previous bookings. For more information or to bring this project to your educational centre, please get in touch through this form:

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THE FORGOTTENS' LABEL, COLLECTIVE ART EXHIBITION

2nd to 16th of June, Sala FEMAPE, Calle Victoria, 17, Malaga, Spain

Experiential Automation and Willingness Standardisation affect our contemporary context: The Forgottens' labels Exhibition collectively reflects on this phenomenon, deepening consumerism, traditional roots and identity formation.

SyamHope partecipa con “Mi hogar”, realizzata con una tecnica artigianale al caffé, di piccolo formato tratta dalla collezione “Ruinas”, disponibile su richiesta

NOCHE EN BLANCO 2025

LIVE ART with SOFIA CANDEO of ART SYAMHOPE and many other artists

10 Maggio, Plaza de la Merced, Málaga, Spagna

Here you'll find the program of all the artistic and cultural activities planned for the Noche en Blanco 202: Actividades y Programa de La Noche en Blanco de Málaga 2025 The chosen topic is the local artist Rafael Pérez Estrada.

NATURAL ECHOES, collective art exhibition

24th April – 15th May, Cc Norte, Cordoba, Spain

Thursday, April 24th, 2025 at 7:00 PM – Opening of the art exhibition organized by Art SyamHope, featuring works by her oil painting students. The event is free and open to the public.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO FEATURE ART SYAMHOPE IN YOUR EVENTS?

You can book personalised art masterpieces, live art and art management for your cultural events.

II Concurso de pintura rápida en cañete de las torres 2025

Sofia Candeo de Art SyamHope partecipa ricevendo una menzione d’onore con il dipinto all’olio su tela “Azul Marino”: se vuoi approfondire qui ti racconto com’è andata!

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Mostra collettiva – 15° Festival Internazionale dedicato alla Donna,

1-31st March Biblioteca Central, Cordova Spain

SyamHope presents the visual poetry performance “The Lipstick” and in the interview with the local newspaper PTV Córdoba, more details on the Art SyamHope YouTube channel.

If you want sponsor Art Syamhope or you want to include it in your Artistic Production contact me to know the open projects related to social and artistic research.

I remember your that my specialization are Paining and Illustration, but I also do Live Art Performance Facepainting, Comic, Mural Art, and Art Management. By clicking here you'll get directly to my mail, text me here:

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