The hospital's lobby is turned into a large art workshop

The multidisciplinary artist and visual poet Alexia Briones has set up in the lobby of the Sant Joan de Déu Sant Boi Hospital to develop, together with four women treated at the Breast Cancer Unit, a large-format artistic work.

With this initiative, born in collaboration with Torrents d’Art – the Arts in Health program of the Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu – the artist and the centre join the effort to raise awareness about cancer, one of the leading causes of mortality in Catalonia and worldwide.

Camí Color is a collaborative project born from the artist’s concern to turn art into a tool that accompanies the healing process. And it starts from a premise that is as simple as it is profound: Painting together as an act of life. The participants have created colourful fragments using natural materials – seawater, mineral pigments, earths, and enamels – which the artist will later transform into a large mural collage.

Cristina Meca, one of the participants, emphasises that "it has been very comforting to surround myself with people who are in the same situation as me, who tell me that this will pass and not to worry. No matter how much the medical teams explain it to you, when someone who has gone through the same thing tells you, you feel very supported."

For her part, Maria Porcel, the first woman operated on in the new Breast Cancer Unit, explains: "I’ve felt joy, sadness, anger, hope... I’ve felt very liberated. My work symbolises that I have to keep fighting no matter what happens. Now I have my first annual check-up, and I’m coming with a lot of enthusiasm to keep moving forward. For me, it has been a great experience."

Briones is clear about it: "I wanted people with cancer to be able to leave their mark. When a work emerges from many hands, it becomes a communal act, a space where everyone feels represented and cared for. Creating together adds a very powerful emotional component."

The collaborative piece created by the four patients and the artist will be permanently installed in the hospital on Friday, 12 December, as a symbol of community, beauty, and shared healing.

The new Breast Cancer Unit at the SJD Sant Boi Hospital

Launched at the beginning of the year, it has allowed – in collaboration with the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) – to offer a multidisciplinary and fully individualised approach to each patient.

"The Breast Cancer Unit has treated nearly 140 women, 68 of whom have undergone surgery here, while the rest have continued treatment at the ICO. This experience has allowed us to bring together four women who have gone through the same process and who have been able to share this moment together," explains Sara Molina, oncology nurse manager at the Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu.

Torrents d’Art, the Arts in Health program of the Parc

Torrents d’Art is the proposal from the Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu to create a framework for dialogue between art, health, and community. Our commitment to the well-being of patients and users has led us, over time, to introduce the world of art, both from its most practical side and from the perspective of the viewer, as a way to promote health.

Currently, through the Arts in Health program Torrents d’Art, we have around fifty ongoing artistic and cultural workshops and a total of 16 services that regularly offer cultural outings to their users.

It has been proven that Arts in Health are effective both in therapeutic interventions and in preventing and promoting the health of the population.