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Art in the Courtyard 

From September 01, 2026 until December 31, 2026The art installations may be viewed during the venue’s regular opening hours.
CÓRDOBA
Courtyards of Casa Árabe (c/ Samuel de los Santos Gener, 9). The art installations may be viewed during the venue’s regular opening hours. Free admission until capacity is reached.

The Casa Árabe headquarters in Córdoba hosts artistic installations in its courtyards that blend heritage, tradition, and the avant-garde. Come discover them.

Through a dialogue between contemporary art and historical legacy, Casa Árabe presents two installations rich in symbolic and social meaning.

Patio de la Palmera. The Metaphor of Flight and Fall

In this space, visitors can admire a mural by the Italian-Egyptian artist Mosa One titled “So Far, So Good—The Problem Isn’t the Fall, but the Landing.” Originally created for the exhibition “From Alif to Zain: Calligraphic Art in Motion,” the work intertwines Arabic calligraphy with animal and plant motifs.

The title of the work recalls the famous monologue from the French film La Haine (1995): a man falls, and as long as he hasn’t hit the ground, everything seems fine. This metaphor resonates with the indifference of the contemporary world toward distant conflicts, which are ignored until catastrophe strikes close to home.

The work captures this tension through the symbol of peace—the dove—which appears twice in the mural. Each dove bears a phrase inscribed in Arabic calligraphy: “So far, so good” and “But where is peace?” One of the birds remains passive, silent, and motionless, while the other seeks to awaken it, reminding us that peace is not an abstract dream but a deliberate act that requires courage.

Arabic calligraphy, the central theme of this piece, was inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2021.

Patio del Abrevadero: Embroidery as Resistance and Memory

For its part, this courtyard is home to the work “Threads of Memory: An Open Window to the Future of Palestine,” a large-scale installation created by artists Almudena Castillejo, Begoña Castillejo, and Maysun Cheikh Ali Mediavilla. The work was conceived as part of the “Art in the Street” initiative during the 2025 Córdoba Courtyards Festival, a festival designated as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2012.

The installation reinterprets traditional Palestinian embroidery, or “tatriz”—recognized by UNESCO in 2021—and brings it into the realm of contemporary art. This craft, historically confined to the domestic and feminine spheres, is transformed here into a language of resistance and a testament to identities that endure despite displacement.

Inspired by the motifs of the kafg al-yad (palm of the hand) and the at-tawriq (atauriques), the artists have suspended a symbolic 1 x 2-meter door that evokes the abolition of borders. The hands surrounding the door invite visitors to pass through, while an arabesque traces a geometric staircase in perpetual motion that connects the visual traditions of Palestine and Córdoba through a shared color palette.

Dialogue Between Heritage Traditions

Through these installations, Casa Árabe intertwines the intangible legacy of Arabic calligraphy and Palestinian embroidery with the historical richness of its own headquarters, a 14th- to 16th-century Mudejar building located in the heart of Córdoba’s historic district. 
Art in the Courtyard 
Art installation “Threads of Memory: A Window into Palestine’s Future” in Córdoba.
Mosa One
A 27-year-old multidisciplinary artist whose artistic practice weaves together hand-sewn textile works, murals, and installations.

Growing up in the suburbs of Rome, he was introduced to art through graffiti at age 13, painting and beginning to tag in his neighborhood. He continued to experiment and gain recognition in the Roman art scene until, at age 19, he was invited to paint a mural at MACRO, Rome’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Since then, he has collaborated with various prestigious institutions and brands, including UNICEF, Netflix, Nike, and many others, with some of his works currently on display in Italy and beyond.

Born in Rome to Egyptian parents, Mosa’s dual identity has always been a recurring theme in his artistic exploration. He constantly strives to express his cultural heritage and his sense of belonging to two lands, two cultures, and two seemingly different ways of life.
Almudena Castillejo
A visual artist and muralist from Córdoba, her work is rooted in the exploration of portraiture and identity. She has exhibited at international galleries and festivals, and her work seeks the convergence of figuration and symbolic storytelling. 
Begoña Castillejo
A textile designer and creator, her work revitalizes Andalusian crochet and fringe-making, reviving the wisdom of past generations and bringing it into the present. Her pieces have been recognized in the worlds of fashion and contemporary textile art.