The inauguration of the mural was attended by the family and friends of La Poetisa. SUR

Cártama town hall pays tribute to La Poetisa

A life-like mural of Remedillos López, who used her verses to highlight the injustices of an unsupportive society, has been painted on the house where the poet spent her life

Tony Bryant

Monday, 29 November 2021, 12:46

Cártama town hall has paid tribute to one of the town’s most celebrated female artists with a large mural painted on the side of the house where she lived.

Remedios Díaz Miranda, better known as Remedillos López – La Poetisa, was born in Cártama in 1929 and spent her entire life there, writing poetry about village life and how much it had changed since her childhood.

The mural, which was painted by local urban artist Nesui SRC, was inaugurated by the Mayor of Cártama, Jorge Gallardo, along with members of Remedillos' family and friends. The project was organised by the Women and Equality department of the town hall and the Municipal Women's Information Centre, and was financed with a grant from the Pacto de Estado contra la Violencia de Género, a political consensus in the fight against gender violence.

The life-like painting, which includes one of the poet’s most important verses, has been installed on the wall of the house located on Calle Antonio Salazar, next to Plaza Santa Ana. Painted onto a black background, the popular local graffiti artist, who is well known for his style based on realistic portraiture, has captured the face of the poet with meticulousness, a face that was ingrained with the struggles of post-war village life.

In addition, urban artists Diego As and Judy Gabor have collaborated on the project by decorating part of the walls adjoining the house with orange blossom floral motifs.

Voice of the people

Remedillos’ work has left a lasting impression on the people of Cártama, because she used her poetry to highlight the injustices of an unsupportive society.

She was known as the ‘voice of the people’, or ‘the street poet’, and she was someone who had first-hand experiences of the pressures faced by women growing up under the Franco regime. Although she had experienced the rigors of the Civil War and the years of hunger and poverty that followed, Remedillos is said to have always brought a smile to all those around her. She became popular for sharing with the neighbours her experiences through her verses, always showing a special affection for the people of Cártama, and also to the Virgen de los Remedios, the town's patron whose shrine the poet would visit on a regular basis.

During the inauguration, the mayor of the town claimed that the mural was intended to make older women visible by recognising people like Remedillos, who, he said, "represented popular wisdom, a passion for poetry, and who was someone who embodied the true identity of Andalucía".

Remedillos, who died in 2016, was described by her biographer, Tico Medina, as "Thin as a bone, her face dripping with anxiety and sorrow, her skinny little body wrapped in a black robe made of shreds of tragedy like a character from a classical Greek play."