Argana Baja is about to fill up with scaffolding, spray cans, and color again. The Desidia Festival holds its third edition September 3-10 in this Arrecife neighborhood, with five artists from the Canary Islands, Japan, Venezuela, and Uruguay painting its walls live under a very Lanzarote theme: “El aljibe. Memoria subterránea” — the island’s historic relationship with water turned into a metaphor for what lies beneath the surface.

The lineup for this third Mural Circuit, curated by Elena García of Espacio Lapanera (Tenerife), brings together Cristina Reyes (Canary Islands), Keeenue (Japan), Luismi Sánchez (Venezuela-Canary Islands), NULO (Uruguay), and JUIN (Canary Islands). The aljibes and maretas — the cisterns Lanzarote used to store water for centuries — serve as the connecting thread for a reflection on collective memory and identities that have not always been visible.

Graffiti workshops, talks, and neighborhood routes

The Desidia Festival program goes well beyond the walls. It opens Thursday, September 3 at the Sala Buñuel of CIC El Almacén with Paula Calavera’s talk on urban painting in the Canary Islands. On Friday the 4th, Feo Flip teaches a beginner spray-paint workshop at CSC Argana Baja; on Saturday the 5th, Iván T. leads “From Sketch to Wall”; and on Wednesday the 9th, Ars Magna and the Tinguafaya Association offer an introduction to mural painting.

The closing day, Thursday the 10th, combines a guided walk through the new murals led by the curator and a round table on architectural heritage and urban art at El Almacén’s Sala Cubo. The full program is available at desidiamural.org.

Culture councilor Jesús Machín summed up the spirit of the event: projects like Desidia “bring contemporary creation into the neighborhoods and use art as a tool to look at our territory from other perspectives.” For anyone on the island those days, watching a large-format mural painted live is a free and unusual plan.

Published: Aug 22, 2026. Official sources: Cabildo de Lanzarote y La Graciosa, Desidia Festival.