Recently I was asked to participate in an assessment committee for an open call launched by the Escena Poblenou Festival. Four projects had to be selected, two of which were required to be street performances. An interesting discussion arose with my fellow jury members to define and narrow down what exactly a street performance is. There were different opinions, some approaches were more purist and others more flexible. At least, they were all valid. I remember that one of the committee members said the following: “The only street projects that make sense to me are those that aim for social transformation, the projects that go beyond form and aesthetics, where the initial purpose intends to shake up, change, rethink and/or activate certain aspects in our society”. This blunt statement is constantly in my thoughts and makes me reflect on street performances’ will to change the world, which in turn leads me to pose the following question: Are the streets and public space still a place for artistic activism?

Activism is the activity led by a social minority with a clear intention to promote, prevent or direct social, political, financial or environmental change. In the field we are dealing with here, the topic would be political activism through art.

The streets have historically been the physical place where citizens have demonstrated in order to demand rights, or denounce injustices, or press for social improvements. They have hosted demonstrations, and religious, political or identitary displays, among others… However, activism doesn’t currently happen only in the streets; the digital space has also become our generation’s place of choice to freely express our opinions and stances. We are hence speaking of a paradigm shift. A remarkable shift.

Participation in the Catalan elections throughout the last decade has dropped. There is growing disengagement and lack of interest in the political agenda, even more so when we look at the younger generations. This issue worries me. Demobilisation and estrangement from collective struggle will take its toll on us.

In contrast and contraposition to this physical stagnation we have a digital space where individual activity is bustling, we take part in heated discussions, we encourage disproportionate viciousness. And all of that is favoured and blessed by some private companies which pull the strings as if all of us were puppets. The term “surveillance capitalism” is not a newly-coined term, and neither is research on user manipulation by means of algorithms whose job is to predict our behaviour. Two recommendations I’d like to share with you are the book The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff and the American documentary The Social Dilemma, directed by Jeff Orlowski.

Hence, citizens have apparently found in the digital space a new venue for denouncing and viciously debating. What role do street arts play in this reflection?

I frequently attend events, festivals and markets connected to street arts, mainly in Europe but also some in Asia, North and Central America. Presenting political, religious or identity-related content from an artistic perspective will definitely start a debate. In the shows featured in artistic programmes we will find global contents linked to climate change, alterity, war, love and death. Some artists use metaphorical, even aesthetic and beautiful, language to talk to us about cruel topics, others are more literal and raw. Other artists present perfectly executed, masterful entertainment shows, which surprise us with their skill, their spectacular nature and their ability to make us evade reality, works without metaphorical messages or social criticism. In these last few years, this last kind of shows has increasingly been in the limelight in contrast to shows which have a stronger activism component or feature a less agreeable message. There are many reasons behind this, but let me highlight three of them:

1. The pandemic left our collective spirit bruised. If we look at what audiences were looking for in performing arts, it was funny, lightweight shows, which would help them tune out of reality and leave them in a good mood. We programmers were looking for shows to evade and entertain the audience. Shows to amuse and provide the street arts audience, which is diverse by nature, with a pleasant time.

2. At the same time, society has increasingly polarised itself politically. This is a reality that can be seen beyond Europe. Hate speech grows and we again distrust and reject alterity. Placing artistic content with clear positions on political parties, migration, identities, climate change, etc. in a street venue will spark reactions that some artistic programmes would rather avoid. There is fear of reactions or criticism.

3. Censorship. Regrettably and sadly, we start to witness some instances of political interference in the show selection for artistic programmes. Cancelled shows, vetoes on certain topics and occasional demonstrations against one particular show.

Faced with a post-pandemic situation, citizen polarisation and increasing censorship, I wonder what is our responsibility as programmers who are in charge of selecting artistic content that will later be seen by thousands of people? When an artistic selection is made, to what extent are proposals left out that are likely to cause complaints in order to avoid problems? If the most activist proposals do not enter the exhibition circuits, how can the artists who propose shows in this line survive? In Catalonia, most of the street arts programmes depend on city and/or town councils and public administrations, who sets the boundaries?

I am a great supporter of entertainment and I am clear that a programme must be able to include shows that are diverse in content and formats, variety for all audiences. But I'm also clear that our commitment and responsibility also includes supporting those voices, artists and shows with a poignant and critical speech, proposals that will say things that won’t be liked.

In a destabilized global context where wars prevail, fascism is growing and the digital space polarises us more than it unites us, the streets and public space must continue to be a space where artistic content featuring criticism and denunciation can be exhibited.

I went from being an artist who makes things, to being an artist who makes things happen. Jeremy Deller.

Photo: Born to Protest, by Joseph Tonga © Núria Boleda, FiraTàrrega 2022.

Anna Giribet i Argilés

Anna Giribet i Argilés holds a degree in Economics (University of Barcelona), as well as a masters and a postgraduate degree in Cultural Management (UOC – University Pompeu Fabra). From 2011 to 2018, she was the assistant programmer for the artistic department at FiraTàrrega - International Performing Arts Market, where she is serving as the artistic director since 2019. Between 2015 and 2017, she was the coordinator of the master’s degree in Street Arts Creation at the University of Lleida (UdL) in Catalonia, Spain.