Art to narrate the emotional geography of cancer 

Quasars inaugurates the artworks resulting from the initiative on June 11th at CaixaForum Seville

Next 11 June at 6 p.m.  will take place in Caixaforum Seville The "Quasars" project inauguration, where four artworks will be presented, culminating a work process that has lasted over two years. This process has focused on the oncological experience, seeking to open up new ways of viewing and narrating it through art.

The project is an initiative by Concomitentes, UNIA and Quirónsalud, and has been coordinated by ZEMOS98 (with mediation from Felipe G. Gil). The process has been supported by artistic mediation methodologies that have brought together patients, healthcare professionals and artists to create works of art born from this dialogue between culture and health.

The project's name originates from a letter written in 2015 by a patient to the radiotherapy technicians at the Quirónsalud Infanta Luisa Hospital, comparing them to ‘quasars’: celestial bodies that, although they seem distant, emit immense energy. “You are a quasar on Earth,” he used to say. 

Quasars It has been developed in the oncology units of the Quirónsalud Sagrado Corazón and Quirónsalud Infanta Luisa hospitals in Seville. Throughout 2024, 2025, and part of 2026, patients, healthcare staff, and artists have worked together to draw, through art, an emotional geography of cancer: a map where fear, uncertainty, or anger can fit, but also humour, tenderness, or companionship.

On 11 June, we will present the works from this process, which will materialise in four creations with different styles:

— Adela God proposes approaching cancer by de-dramatising it, creating a series of 60 illustrations developed alongside patients and healthcare staff which build a unique imagery that allows the illness to be discussed with less solemnity, sometimes through humour and at other times through irony or tenderness. 

— Andrea Moran She has worked on a sound documentary created from patient testimonies and in collaboration with oncology medical staff. A documentary that explores this emotional geography and also aims to serve as support for other people undergoing treatment.

— Rocío Mesa and Jorge Castrillo (Naino) They have developed a short documentary film from a script co-written with cancer patients. The piece captures experiences, but also lists the objects, spaces, and relationships that are part of the process.

— Óscar Romero A photographic essay born from sessions with patients. Using instant cameras, each patient has constructed their own narrative, which is complemented by portraits taken by Romero of the ‘quasars’ – the carers of those suffering from cancer.