Press releases

FiraTàrrega 2018 will take place from 6th to 9th September.This edition concludes the triennium which has promoted the assets of street art, beginning in 2016 with interculturalism, followed by participation in the last edition. It will be concluded, in this 2018 edition, with the reenvisioning of public space. This year 50 projects will be presented from 8 countries, where 30 premières will be featured.

The whole program provides a rich line-up of formats, genres and styles; there's something for everyone, the shows of 50 national and international companies will be presented, 12 of which have been co-produced by FiraTàrrega. Throughout the 4 day duration of the Fair, a total of 227 sessions will take place, in 22 exhibition spaces.

Reenvision public space, update your view, understand and celebrate the street. This has always been the aim of the Fira and is what we want to highlight in 2018. Based on the program for this year we'll be looking to the past so as to understand the present, and to the present to make decisions about the future.

La Compagnie Lucamoros will open FiraTàrrega 2018 with La Tortue de Gauguin, an interdisciplinary street theatre piece that combines live painting, shadow theatre and scenic music. A piece that shows the process of making a work of art thanks to a visual dramaturgy that takes place in a vertical structure of 9 meters, with six painters, an actress and live music. A metal polyptych; a contemporary altarpiece that vindicates the magic of creation and the ephemeral condition of art.

FIRATÀRREGA 2018 THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF STREET ART

Contemporary classics

This year FiraTàrrega pays homage to contemporary classics and theatrical code in the public space. This is a tradition that has been endorsed by the presence of renowned national and international names. An example is the company Adhok, which premièred, in Spain, its trilogy of shows that reflect on youth and age (Issue de Secours, L'envol and Le Nid). On the other hand in this edition, Joan Català will present 5,102 m/s a work in progress that will become a street art piece and another that is for the stage as of 2019.

Moreoever, the Polish company Teatr KTO will première Peregrinus and the well known English company Chameleon will bring two of their main shows Of Man and Beast and Witness This to Tàrrega. Other outstanding names include Teatro do Mar, which will début at FiraTàrrega with their Insomnio or NoFit State Circus & Motionhouse with the show BLOCK.

A celebration of the present

From views of the past to the celebration of the present, to the curiosity and desire to keep growing. Outstanding are the latest creations from: Les Impuxibles and their first street theatre piece Painball, the proposal that Toti Toronell and Pere Hosta (Slow Olou) offer us with Escargots, Hui Basa with Tha Tzpar (L'espera) or Humanhood and in the brief dance piece Orbis. LaSala is also to visit Tàrrega; a Basque contemporary dance company which has been investigating physical language and its links with current aesthetics since 2013; this can be seen in two of their shows, FEMALE and I U. And Espera by the Companyia de Circ 'eia' and the dance piece Labranza by Colectivo Lamajara couldn't stay away.

Looking into the future

From the present we face the future, a vindication of street arts, of the generational relief and other ways of experiencing the street with proposals such as those of Silere, formed by ex-students from the MA in Creation by FiraTàrrega; the Colectivo Ameno which will present Saunterer, a travelling performance that reflects on the possibility of fleeing from a homogeneous world in which reality is confused with capitalism; and the work of Calidos feat. Nølah with Blockchain is an artistic installation that seeks to focus on the need for society to cooperate to build a better world. We also highlight the dance solo of Akira Yoshida, the stage piece of the Italian Caterina Moroni UN.HABITANTS_To make room for us or the commitment of Becki Parker & Vero Cendoya who with Hunting for the unicorn have worked together on a joint investigation so as to offer two visions about autism; a collaboration between FiraTàrrega and the British festival Stockton International Riverside Festival (SIRF).

Family Scenic Arts

On the other hand, FiraTàrrega continues its collaboration with the Mostra d'Igualada - Fira de Teatre Infantil i Juvenil i l'Associació de Teatre per a tots els Públics to offer a program for the visualization and internationalization of Catalan family shows. With them we present four pieces designed for the international market: Mumusic Circus with Flou Papagayo, Zum zum Teatre and Quim Bigas who will be presented at Tàrrega Hippos, Asteroid, the latest production of the Campiguipugui, which, directed by Toti Toronell, combines puppets and real actors with the objective of achieving a surprising and transformative impact on the public space. Also aimed at the family audience are CreaMoviment with Un món de cartró a proposal where adults and children relate to a world of cardboard, transforming space. Les set diferències by El Pont Flotant will also be one of the main events of the 2018 edition of FiraTàrrega.

International presence with Mexico and Chile pre-eminently

This year, FiraTàrrega has invited 16 international shows; outstanding among these are the Mexican and Chilean proposals. The relationship with Mexico has continued organically from different areas, with Mexicans moving to Catalonia after participating in the FiraTàrrega Street Arts Master's Degree or the premieres of Mexican works that have triumphed with global acclaim.

As a result, this edition will present 5 Mexican creations. Three of these mixed proposals include: Ohtli, a debut feature by Claudia González (from the company D'Jade and ex-student from the MA), Mexicatas (Cor de Maguey) where, starting with an original dramaturgy by Sergi Belbel, eight Mexican actresses (three of which are ex-students from the MA) explain their experiences of their exile in our country. And finally the commission that FiraTàrrega gave to Antonio Zúñiga and Melina Pereyra (Chroma Teatre), to offer an external and objective look at the search and recovery of historical memory coinciding with the Generalitat de Catalunya's development of the Mass Graves Plan in Tàrrega. This will be performed under the title Prácticas de vuelo para acabar con el olvido.

Continuing with the series of Mexican proposals, Fira will debut two contemporary benchmark pieces including Sin Ítaca by Pendiente Teatro y Eduardo Bernal and La Brisa by Teatro Línea de Sombra and Tamara Cubas.

With reference to Chile, two young directors will have their debut at FiraTàrrega. The first is Carolina Díaz with Correo (Proyecto Correo), a show about the epistolary genre, which reflects on the privacy, communication, immediacy and aesthetics of waiting. The second, Pilar Ronderos, from the company La Laura Palmer, presents us with Hija de Tigre; a of documentary and autobiographical theatre production about of an absent father figure.

Breaking barriers

This Fair also wants to escape from its limitations or barriers, questioning its limits as an exhibition space as well as the hierarchies of the public space presenting two pieces that will not be on the program, which seek to catch out the unsuspecting spectator: Diana Coca presents Corporeïtats al límit and John Fisherman with #moneyforfree.

On the other hand, the project Bailar el agua is a scenic experience for people with severe intellectual disabilities and addresses spectators that are often overlooked. We resolutely vindicate these members of society in our programming.

We will also have the pleasure of the presence of: Marta Torrents, Nuc, Nuria Guiu, PSIRC, José y sus hermanas, Los Moñekos, Théâtre de la Toupine, Xesca Salvà, Colectivo Ameno, Emília Gargot.

MORE WAYS TO INTERACT WITH THE FIRATÀRREGA PROGRAM

To approach the bulk of the FiraTàrrega 2018 program the Fair has organized Artistic Routes, composed of 9 routes to make it easier for the public to navigate through the FiraTàrrega program. On this occasion these are 9 culinary menus that form themed routes of reference. These routes can be consulted via the FiraTàrrega web browser as well as Fair's hand-held program.

FIRATÀRREGA PRO: SCENIC ARTS MARKET

FiraTàrrega is a meeting point for debate, exchanges and transactions; a true international market for the performing arts. The exhibition pavilion, with exhibition stands, allows performing arts agents to publicize their projects. This year, as of 27^th August, the Fair has accredited 795 professionals assigned to 473 entities related to the performing arts, of national and international origin (Australia, Canada, Colombia, the Congo, Denmark, Egypt, Ethiopia, the USA, Republic of Moldova, and Russia, among others).

Among the activities and presentations of this year is the Lunch Meeting organized by Catalan Arts, the meeting point between the Catalan companies selected in the official FiraTàrrega program and the international programmers accredited in the edition. In this edition about 200 people are expected to attend. This makes Lunch the most important professional meeting held during the Fair.

The Conferència FARMING THE ARTS - Art i Agricultura is another event of particular interest. Collaborations and transversal learning; a meeting between professionals interested in discovering new models of collaborative work between the arts and agriculture. Friday also highlights the Open Talk organized by The Artistic Occupation of the Space where it will reflect on how to occupy public space as a space of creation. On the same Friday there will also be a presentation of Without Walls consortium - un model de suport a la creació per a artistes de carrer (Which brings together 17 festivals and 2 creative centres) and its mission to support artists from the United Kingdom to develop and conduct tours in public spaces. And it also highlights the presentation of the code of good practices of the Plataforma d'Arts de Carrer and the debate on the future of national scenic markets at the hands of COFAE.

Once again, FiraTàrrega promotes the RADAR Project, with the support of the Program of the state-owned company Acción Cultural Española (AC/E) for the Internationalization of Spanish Culture (PICE). This project aims to connect international professionals and generate synergies among them. This year FiraTàrrega will host a group of 9 benchmark programmers from 5 continents (Australia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Canada, the USA, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea).

MORE FIRATÀRREGA

This year FiraTàrrega will host Beepath. This is a citizen science project that permits the analysis of the mobility of 20 people who will share their movements during the days of the fair using mobile devices.

Coinciding with the year of Pedrolo, the Pedrolo Pas a Pas exhibition will be held, curated by Xavier Garcia, where you can see a collection of first editions, translations, adaptations, curious editions and oddities as well as versions in comics, for radio and TV of the Second Origin Typescript.