Jordi Duran, from Fira Tàrrega: "There is still a lot of prejudice towards street arts: they are seen as low culture"

Street theater and Tàrrega, terms of a binomial that have become synonymous in Catalonia: forgive me the cliché. The Fira arrives from September 6 to 9 in its 38th edition with a menu of shows that aims to once again offer a qualitative leap, providing new experiences in this genre, which long ago ceased to be minor. The stages of FiraTàrrega end up becoming participatory spaces, where the public interacts with the theatrical piece until they even become unexpected protagonists. The captain of this artistic flagship for eight years is Jordi Duran, a lover of theater and the arts in general. Active, proactive and tireless. Duran's head is buzzing with ideas that transform into new challenges. One of them is to overcome the classism that, he tells us, still persists in the artistic world in order to share illusions and experiences with other festivals, through co-productions, for example. In his last year at the helm of the Fair, he will highlight "the reinterpretation of public space, increasingly marked by current events and the environment." Regarding his imminent departure from the fair's direction, he assures that "we are all expendable" and hopes that, without him, the event "will be shaken to be able to rebuild and improve in the future." We talk with him and he reveals his concerns and how FiraTàrrega 2018, his last as artistic director, is being prepared. This 38th edition of FiraTàrrega closes a three-year period that has championed street arts. Interculturality, participation and public space have been the key ideas. What is sought in this edition?

The idea is to re-read public space. This three-year period has served to reclaim the assets of street arts. We came from the editions from 2011 to 2015, we came from explaining or trying to understand that street arts are not just street theater. Now we make a synchronic and diachronic reading of what we are and what we have been, because I think that since last October 1st, public space and its meaning have changed. I'm not talking about using the fair as a space for pamphlet purposes, but it is important to question the public to hear what is happening and who we are. What concerns our artists must have a place in street arts. Thus, the fair becomes a balance of balances, but also a space to have fun and laugh. It is a roller coaster of experiences. We must be able to get away from problems, but also be able to look them in the face.

Since you took the reins of the festival's direction, it has solidified its vocation to go beyond conventional street theater. What projects help make this change of chip?

For five editions (from 2011 to 2015) we dedicated the fair to different scenic categories: circus, new technologies, dance, theater, and visual arts. Since 2015, we have been incorporating more scenic pieces that hybridize with visual arts. It is increasingly natural for public space to be a live art space. After these five years, this concept had already taken hold and now we insist on the why of street arts today. We appeal to the public, institutions, professionals, universities... We must stimulate more research in this line. The fair must be a place where everyone finds a piece. This year there will be 50 premieres from 8 different countries. In other years, the Fair had more premieres, but you decided to leave the obsession with numbers behind years ago...

We have been working for a long time thinking about quality, and thinking about generating experiences. We do performing arts, not parties. For that, we already have Primavera Sound, Sónar... here we make art. For this reason, we fight for artists to work in good conditions and we do not want to contribute to precariousness in the sector. FiraTàrrega takes into account the people who program, and this must be taken care of. When 100 or 120 shows were done, it was unattainable. Now we have 50 shows, it is accessible and the programmer has the feeling that they see many things and don't miss so many. Let's talk about one of your firmest commitments at the head of the Fair. It is the Artistic Creation Support Program. This year, thanks to this initiative, the public will be able to enjoy 12 new productions.

In 2011 I presented a project to open and change the model. This change had to happen to be in the sector from training and also involve its creators in the project. For this reason, the creation of a Master's in Street Arts was proposed, together with the University of Lleida. From here come names that will later perform at different festivals. The other part is the support for creation. We are fortunate and Tàrrega is open from February to September for everything to happen. People come, stay, test if it is the best place to perform or do tests with the city's public. Training, support for creation and the Fair. In recent years, we have put a lot of effort into transcending the supermarket, that is, we not only want to sell the product, but we explain that behind it there are people, ways of doing things and programming.

This edition of the Fair wants to look to the past to understand the present and the present to face the future. What are you looking for?

Looking to the past, and I'm talking about a contemporary past, means that there are pieces that have been made in the last 5 years in Europe that have not been seen here. They must be seen, because they are pieces that point to where contemporary street theater can go and allow us to explain things that concern us today.

The present is people who work from today, and the things that are happening now. We have the example of Les Impuxibles [one of the companies that is part of the lineup for this edition of the Fair], who have the need to use art as a loudspeaker for denunciation and social change, positioning themselves in a policy of equality. And all of this helps us to look to the future. FiraTàrrega is committed to breaking the ice and presenting people who are taking off, like Ariadna Coca, Emilia Garabato, or Claudia González. It is a balance between past, present, and the possibility of the future. Addressing risk, understood as value and as an interesting point, both for professionals from here and abroad.

This year FiraTàrrega has invited 16 international shows. The Mexican and Chilean proposals stand out, with which it has been working for some time. Why does it focus its attention on these countries? Will this commitment continue in the future?

These flirtations must be understood as ways of having activated markets. The Fair's main market is Europe, but if we want to go abroad, it is important to create links through co-productions. Pieces that cross our borders should be welcome. For language reasons, with Spanish we connect quickly and we cannot not listen to it. A kind of air bridge has been established between countries like Chile or Mexico and Tàrrega. This January we presented 4 Catalan street pieces in Santiago de Chile. And this will continue. A clear example of this good harmony is that this year a co-production between Latin students of the Master of Street Arts and the playwright Sergi Belbel is presented at the Fair. It is titled Mexicatas. Belbel signs the dramaturgy, and it is very beautiful because these are things that come out of the fair and transcend it. This year we also have the Mexican playwright Antonio Zúñiga, who accepted FiraTàrrega's commission to write a theatrical text for public space based on historical memory, aimed at spectators from 6 years old. Melina Pereyra directs Chroma Teatro in this poetic and magical piece called Prácticas de vuelo para acabar con el olvido (Flight Practices to End Forgetting) and which will be performed in the cemetery of the capital of Urgell.

Does a stigma, a certain contempt, still persist towards street arts? Often, some link them to local festivals.

I believe there is classism among the arts. Among institutions, people who study, universities, places where artists are trained, etc. There is still a lot of prejudice towards street arts and people who see it as a minor genre or 'low culture'. But we are about deeds, not words! Therefore, we will continue working along these lines.

What is the future of FiraTàrrega?

I believe the Fair must listen to the times it lives in and must incorporate the opinion, the vision of everyone who is part of the Fira family. I am now finishing a project, and this must be shaken, questioned, and deconstructed, in order to reconstruct and improve what it represents. We are all expendable and I would like it to take new directions.