During t e r r i t o r i o last week, we briefly imagined ourselves in Spain. The sun seemed to be shining just a little brighter, Lakensestraat smelled like savory tortilla and the rolling r’s were… rolling.
t e r r i t o r i o searches for artistic surprises outside the big cities of Madrid and Barcelona, because Spain consists of so much more. Each region of the 17 autonomous territories has its own inventive arts centers and artists, deeply intertwined with their surroundings. The four-day festival – full of lectures, show moments and three performances from the Spanish arts field – is organized by KVS and Europalia. Each day, one region is (re)presented by artists and collectives.
MESTIZO ARTS PLATFORM/WIPCOOP, KVS and Le BAMP teamed up for a program at Le BAMP.
With 3 x LECTURES on the program, during T e r r i t o r i o we welcomed several artists with whom we have developed a warm relationship in recent years. Through urban dramatist Gerardo Salinas (KVS), we gradually got to know Denise Duncan and her practice: from a first meeting in Barcelona to her participation as an international guest during WIPCOOP 2023 and Proximamente in 2024. The previous week Denise worked in residence at Le BAMP, where she shared the first steps of her research with the public on Friday. Kristin Rogghe, with whom we have enjoyed working for many years from her (former) role as city dramaturge at KVS, also moved into the rehearsal space at Le BAMP for a week to work on Kristin no te por. On Thursday she showed a first draft in a small circle, and on Friday Pegah Khoei and Tomeu Gomila of Es Clot d’en Font (Mallorca) joined her during the presentation. A glimpse into where different layers of her artistic practice could take an initial start. At the invitation of KVS, Adria Girona and Andrea Pellejero of Monte Isla explained their artistic practice, initiatives and collective.
On Friday, Nov. 28, Denise Duncan (Tinta Negra via MAP/WIPCOOP), Adrià Girona & Andrea Pellejero (Monte Isla / Això al poble no li agradarà) and Kristin Rogghe (Es Clot d’en Font / Art Dance Center via MAP/WIPCOOP) presented their artistic practices. Powerful bottom-up approaches: initiatives rooted in community, connection and local ecosystem strength. Each in their own way explores how artistic practices can escape ingrained structures, how power works and how imagination can open new spaces where other forms of life and creation become possible.
Vulnerability as strength
Denise Duncan shares where she stands with her research My Hair My Territory in which personal stories around beauty standards, hair and self-image expose how deeply cultural expectations can cut: the desire to be “as beautiful as Barbie,” the long-standing struggle against natural hair, shaving it off as a statement. The Afro-comb becomes a tool, a weapon, a symbol of self-love. Denise spoke about Tinta Negra’s mission and vision, structural and institutional racism, and the inertia and pain that often accompany activism. A call to use power consciously so that groups with less privilege can truly participate in change.
Beyond comfort, beyond the familiar
Adria Girona & Andrea Pellejero of Monte Isla fillet the contradictions of a capitalist arts landscape that often feeds only a few structures – as in Girona, where one festival absorbs almost all the resources. Their work creates places beyond the usual experience: anthropomorphic, uncomfortable, mobile. A conversation about imposter syndrome, about puppets and objects as extensions of choreography, and about the need for new circuits where hybrid practices can breathe, even when they are not yet understood. Art does not have to fit into a binary grid of “beautiful or not beautiful.” Their vision of a young, democratic festival with fair distribution of resources embodies just that: a space where other artistic logics become possible.
Dreams as dramaturgical knowledge
Kristin Rogghe connects her dramaturgical background with an examination of dream logic, collective unconscious and ancient forms of wisdom. How can we care for a dying paradigm so that something new can emerge? With dream dramaturgy, she explores creation from the dream state: fluid boundaries, embodied insights, inviting dreams as a form of co-creation. Instead of tightly directing a theme, she advocates for an in-between space that is allowed to emerge. A practice that feels vulnerable, spiritual and surprisingly precise for the early stages of a creative process.
All presentations express a desire for other ways of knowing and making. An invitation to rethink power, to radically redistribute space, to bring the intuitive and the dreaming back into artistic processes.
t e r r i t o r i o thus became a place where new perspectives gently but firmly pushed forward.
Team MAP provided a themed(!) lunch after these lecture performances with tortilla, empanada, salada russa, pasta pesto and delicious cake. We took the space on its MAPs and conjured up a pop-up restaurant. It was not only nice to work with team Le BAMP to set up the spaces, shifting tables and chairs, drawing on and next to the tables … “in-between” over a delicious lunch, conversations flowed all over the spaces! It was clear that people enjoyed themselves AND bonded. Blessed!
Merci to everyone who contributed to this lovely day during this beautiful festival.
- Merci KVS – with an extra shout-out to Lorenzo & Gerardo!
- Merci Le BAMP – for the warm & open welcome, sharing your home & fine energy with the artists, as a partner and with the audience
- Merci to the artists: Denise, Adrià, Andrea, Kristin, Pegah Khoei and Tomeu Gomila!
- And merci to everyone who was there: for your enthusiasm, energy and support for the Spanish territories.
Hasta luego x
Want to know more about the artists and collectives who presented Friday?
Catalonia
Tinta Negra brings together black performers and theater makers to create new stories rooted in creative autonomy and Afro-centered perspectives. The collective, founded by Denise Duncan, recaptures worthy representational spaces with works such as Títuba, bruixa, negra i ramera and #nosomunhashtag.
Denise Duncan, a Costa Rican-Catalan writer and director, connects artistic creation with activism in her work. With more than 20 premieres and numerous awards, she builds bridges between theater, feminism and decolonial thinking.
Monte Isla(Adrià Girona, Andrea Pellejero, Rut Girona) develops a practice around landscape and scenic time, exploring the non-human on stage. They are the founders of Això al poble no li agradarà, a festival that decentralizes the performing arts in the region of Girona.
Andrea Pellejero and Adrià Girona, both trained at the Institut del Teatre, move between theater, objects and sound, with works such as Un cuerpo sin talento (Grec Festival 2024).
Balearic Islands
Es Clot d’En Font is an artistic and ecological haven in Majorca, where art, nature and well-being come together. The place offers residencies, workshops and retreats that encourage creativity and connection to the land.
Kristin Rogghe, a Brussels-based dramaturg and artist, interweaves performing arts with dream work in her “dream dramaturgy.” From her base in Mallorca, she explores regeneration and intuitive co-creation through collaborative, transdisciplinary practice.
Andalucia: Box Levante | Ahmed Ben Attia y Los Voluble | Canarias: LAV-C | Aleksandar Georgiev Castilla-La Mancha: Festival Paisaje| Joaquín Collado Cataluña: Tinta Negra | Denise Duncan | Aixiò al poble no li agradarà | Monte Isla Extremadura: CRAC | Juan Carlos Panduro Galicia: Residencias Paraíso | Crís Balboa Madrid: Osikán, vivero de creación | José Ramón Hernandez Navarra: Festival Arbola | Isabel Ferreira & Monika Aranda, AzkonaToloza País Vasco: Azala | Iara Solano Valencia: Dansa València | Inka Romani | La Rioja FITLO | Andrea Pellejero - Las Huecas Islas Baleares Es Clot d'en Font | Kristin Rogghe ... With partner AirEuropa
