Walking by the the seven stars on the camino

2021-04-14

Neither maps nor compasses.

You just had to look up at the sky and let the stars guide your steps. And it is that the Milky Way, that spiral formed by hundreds of billions of stars that extends throughout the universe, served as navigation system to the pilgrims who traveled the Camino de Santiago, showing that the sky can be the best atlas. Legend has it that since the Middle Ages it was thought that the Milky Way was the path outlined by the Apostle Santiago to accompany the pilgrim to his tomb, and it seems that the etymology gives the reason to this theory, hence the name of Compostela derive from campus stelae, star field.

 

But now it's time to talk about the other stars. The ones that shine the most. The ones that are not that far away. Those that we can see up close without the need for a telescope and touch, even hug, because their heat does not burn, it comforts. The stars that also illuminate the Camino de Santiago, but not light years away, but at the foot of the route. Those that give breath to the pilgrim and meaning to the Way.

 

Stars who have first and last names and a link that unites them: Xermán Arias, Mario Mato, Xosé Luis Carreira, Isidro Pardo, Antón Pombo, Maruja Varela and Laurie Dennett, each in their own way, ensure that the spirit of the Camino remains. For this reason, the Estrella Galicia beer brand, which for decades has known how to express its Galician pride by supporting the culture and people of its land, has wanted to pay them a very special tribute to highlight a fundamental value on the Camino: the people who live around him and make it possible.

 

Urban art at the hands of Mon Devane to celebrate the Xacobeo 2021

There is a before and an after in the history of art and it has been marked by Estrella Galicia, who have curated the most extensive artistic exhibition in the world: ‘The stars of the path. 140 kilometers along the last seven stages of the French Route form a huge open-air gallery that immortalizes, in seven large murals, the faces of the people who live in the surroundings of the camino and make it unique, because they have been turned into the authentic 'resistance' by betting on a way of life centered on generosity, respect, dedication, devotion or commitment.

 

A crane and dozens of spray cans is all that the person in charge of materializing this innovative proposal by Estrella Galicia needs: Mon Devane, the artist from Ourense, who works in turquoise ranges as a personal mark to achieve detailed portraits, which are further magnified thanks to its ability to adapt to large formats.

 

Mon Devane had to face two very particular challenges in order to finish his work: the meteorology, which surprised him with the rainiest winter in the last 20 or 30 years in Galicia, and his fear of heights. It sounds paradoxical, but that's the way it is: the artist who has to paint portraits over 20 meters high has his legs shaking when he gets on the crane: «You have no choice, if you want to do this, and in the end it is worth the suffering. You're up there shaking, but when you go down and see the result, you say: Wow!” Mon Devane confesses with a laugh and explains that it took him 40 or 50 hours to complete each mural.

 

Focusing on his music while he paints, Mon Devane creates style. «I have studied Illustration and Graphic Design. I started with graffiti by writing my name, and to this day I am still improving the technique. Realism is like an endless road because there is always something you can improve. He now combines his works of muralism with others of painting of pictures and other supports of interior for homes. The artist, who assures that he has bet for many years because his work is more artistic than commercial, affirms that it has been a very great honor that Estrella Galicia has chosen him to represent 'Las Estrellas del Camino' because “it is the largest project I've done so far. They have trusted me and I am very grateful.

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