haring

American artist painted work in Atenes Street club during visit to Barcelona in 1989

Urban artist Keith Haring chose the Raval neighbourhood in Barcelona to execute his mural painting Together We Can Stop AIDS in 1989. Diagnosed with HIV a year before, the American artist drew this iconic line in Spanish (Todos juntos podemos parar el SIDA) in blood-red letters and next to some of his characteristic figures, as a call to fight the disease. On Thursday, exactly 25 years later, a reproduction of his famous mural was unveiled in another location of the Raval neighbourhood, sponsored by the Ciutat Vella District (Old City Centre) and by the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA). This initiative acknowledges Keith Haring as one of the most emblematic street artists of his time, recalling his stay in Barcelona and highlighting his courage to address a taboo subject that personally affected him.