167 Art Project

Lecce's 167 neighbourhood was built in the 1970s as a public housing area. For decades it lived with urban isolation and visual decay. Since 2017 167/B Street has run an ongoing process of regeneration through mural art: every year new works, new artists and new walls transformed.

It is not a festival. It is a permanent project that keeps evolving: a living museum that grows with the neighbourhood and the people who live there.

Over the years, artists from all over the world have left their mark on the façades of the 167: Artez (Serbia), Mantra (France), Sabotaje al Montaje (Canary Islands), Taxis (Greece), Millo (Italy), Karski & Beyond (Netherlands), Medianeras (Argentina), Collin Van Der Sluijs (Netherlands), Davide DPA, Bifido, Julieta XLF (Spain), Igor Scalisi Palminteri (Italy), Dmitri Potapov (Moldova), Sasha Korban (Ukraine), Joram Roukes (Netherlands), Marie Balbinot (Brazil), Magdalena Karol (Poland/Ireland), Laidback Design (Ireland), Rawtella, Leocifero, Gutan, Eloi TMX, Sillyme Arts and, of course, Chekos’art, artist and co-founder of 167/B Street, with many works from 2017 to today.

Over time the project has built partnerships with many institutions and organisations: the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Consulate General in Milan, Soroptimist Club Lecce, Arca Sud Salento, the City of Lecce, the Puglia Region, the Parish of San Giovanni Battista, AGN Energia / PlanBee, BKT, Sikkens, Caparol, Italian Colorpaint, and many other local and national organisations that believed in urban regeneration through art.

The works of the 167 do not decorate: they tell stories. Environment and ecological crisis, identity and local memory, freedom and dignity, sport and Lecce's popular culture, inclusion and living together. Every wall has something to say to the people who live in the neighbourhood and to those who walk through it for the first time.

Want to visit the neighbourhood and see the works in person? Write to us to arrange a guided tour