Art Meets Activism in Sant Pere

On October 3, a neighbour on a balcony will become the unlikely protagonist of a cultural intervention in central Barcelona. El veí del balcó (The Neighbor on the Balcony), originally performed in 1994 by Circ Perillós, will be revived at 5 p.m. at La Casa de la Seda on Plaça de Lluís Millet, marking the start of Interrupcions, a two-week programme of street circus and critical thought. From October 3 to 17, ten curated performances will unfold across streets, squares and community centres in the Sant Pere, Santa Caterina and La Ribera neighbourhoods, one of the city’s most intensely touristed areas. The project is organised by La Central del Circ, the Antic Teatre and Artefactum, under the framework of the Circus Promotion Plan (2023–2026), an initiative of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat and the Association of Circus Professionals of Catalonia (APCC).

A Political Act of Reclamation

We want to bring the circus to the centre of Barcelona

, Semolina Tomic, artistic director of the Antic Teatre, explains that circus arts have been pushed to the metropolitan periphery, despite their deep roots in popular culture. She argues that current civic regulations, such as the 2005 municipal ordinance restricting spontaneous use of public space, have marginalised live street practices like music and circus. Esther Blázquez of Artefactum adds that many cultural venues are not physically equipped to host circus performances, reinforcing its exclusion from mainstream programming. This structural barrier, she says, shapes a cultural narrative that associates circus with the margins.

Co-Created with the Community

The artists involved did not arrive with finished shows. Each of the ten interventions was developed through months of fieldwork: meetings with local associations, castellers, sardanistes and community groups like Espai Jove Palau Alòs and Casal de Barri Pou de la Figuera. The goal is not passive viewing but active participation. Tomic stresses: We like to work so that our neighbours feel part of these artistic interventions. And not just as spectators.

  • October 3, 6 p.m.: Só un solo by Mario G. Cortizo, processional route from Palau de la Música to Verdaguer i Callís
  • October 6, 6:30 p.m.: Itinerant performance on wheels by Jorge Albuerne
  • October 9, 3 p.m.: Rituals by Ingrid Esperanza in the cloister of Convent de Sant Agustí
  • October 10, 11 a.m.: Antonia Kuzmanić transforms Plaça del Pou de la Figuera into a Plaça de la Sensació Compartida
  • October 17, 6 p.m.: Pas a Pas by Karl StetS, starting at c/Sant Pere més Alt 10

An exhibition honouring Rogelio Rivel, a key figure in 20th-century Catalan circus, will run throughout the festival at Espai Jove Palau Alòs.

Circus as Living Memory

Interrupcions coincides with the development of the Circus Archive, a digital platform designed to preserve the ephemeral heritage of circus arts in Catalonia. Because circus relies on live transmission, much of its history risks being lost. The archive invites professionals to contribute materials, building a collective memory rooted in context, social, political and spatial. As Blázquez notes, the meaning of a street performance shifts depending on where it happens. In this sense, Interrupcions is not just a festival. It is a reflection on who has the right to occupy, make noise in, and imagine the future of Barcelona’s public space.

Reported by liniaxarxa.cat, lacentraldelcirc.cat, apcc.cat, Línia Xarxa.