In a city where 31% of the population comes from different parts of the world, we ask ourselves: Where do we find the representation of the migrant community in the local cultural fabric? Are our contributions valued as essential elements in Barcelona's identity?
We invite you to the 3rd edition of Fes! Festival de culturas en resistencia #AccióMigrant. This festival, now in its third year, not only continues to celebrate cultural diversity but also questions the dynamics that relegate those who have experienced migration to a peripheral role in Barcelona's cultural landscape.
Moreover, we want to celebrate with you the party of music and the summer solstice. Come on June 21st to Fabra i Coats: Fàbrica de creació to enjoy a conscious and festive program, which this year includes the forum of popular cultures "Popular Cultures: For Whom?", over 50 migrant artists, a network of culture professionals to connect with, live performances, spaces for dialogue and encounter, project fair, nomadic food, lots of music, and eagerness to meet you and your ideas.
You can get to know the artists who will be part of the festival on our Instagram profile. Later, we will reveal the invited musical artists who will close the night.
At Fes! Cultura, since 2019, we have committed to opening the doors of the Barcelona cultural ecosystem to all people who have experienced migration. We firmly believe in the transformative power of collective strength, culture, and social awareness to change perceptions, build connections, and create complicity in defense of everyone's rights.
In 2022 and 2023, we held the first two editions of Fes! Festival de culturas en resistencia #AccióMigrant, where we presented to the public more than 90 transformative cultural proposals, driven by people born in the Global South who now inhabit this city.
An average of 400 and 600 people respectively attended in the years 2022 and 2023.
By supporting the festival, you join the mission of promoting a committed, open, diverse, and sustainable culture.
Fes! is the imperative of the verb "to do" in Catalan, so Let's do culture! Let's make transformative culture!
Why support Fes! Festival de culturas en resistencia #AccióMigrant 2024?
**Celebrate cultural diversity.
Challenge cultural dynamics that marginalize those who have experienced migration.
Promote a committed, open, diverse, and sustainable culture.
Contribute to changing perceptions and building complicity in defense of everyone's rights.
Main features and goals of the crowdfunding campaign
We present the 3rd edition of Fes! Festival de culturas en resistencia #AccióMigrant. A celebration filled with artistic experiences, cultural projects with social impact, and spaces for dialogue and encounter. A day to network, share human stories, change perceptions, and ways of relating that help create alliances in defense of the rights of all people.
You can participate in the debate forum around what we understand by "popular cultures" (soon, all the information on our website). And from 4 pm onwards, you can watch short artistic presentations on stage (music, live arts, performance, etc.) by different artists of diverse origins. You will learn about cultural initiatives in the city and its surroundings driven by migrant artists at the project fair. And, of course, we will celebrate music with concerts, DJs, and more. You can get to know the artists who will be part of the festival on our Instagram profile. Later, we will reveal the musical artists invited to close the night.
What do we want to achieve?
Promote the active participation of migrants in spaces for cultural dissemination and practice that promote social awareness about the right of people to migrate, in order to contribute to a change in perceptions and attitudes among the entire citizenry.
Encourage cultural initiatives promoted by artists and cultural managers of diverse origins in Barcelona, as proposals of quality and with transformative potential in the city.
Increase the self-confidence, organizational capabilities, and cooperation of migrants, promoting their participation in spaces for training, exchange, and coexistence around cultural practices committed to global justice, especially the right to migrate.
Expand the social capital of migrants by promoting their access to cultural circuits, contact with the local population, and knowledge of social organizations, resources, and public institutions.
Why this is important
We firmly believe that culture plays a key role in social transformation due to its ability to connect people; it activates spaces for dialogue and encounter, promotes the expression of diverse ideas and identities, fosters the development of critical and creative skills, enables the creation of common imaginaries, drives community self-organization... Ultimately, it provides the foundation for people to intervene in the public sphere and actively participate in the social and political debates that affect them.
At Fes! Cultura, we have long been taking actions and activating conversations among migrants and racialized individuals working in culture, to devise proposals and actions that help more and more people, especially those who have come from outside, to become part of the local cultural community. But not because we want to replace what already exists or demand more than what local people have, but because we want to participate on equal terms, contribute to public debates, and be part of decision-making spaces. Because we live here, because we have the need to create and express ourselves, to project our cultural identities, to build spaces to connect and face collective challenges, not only our own, but those of all people.
This festival is aimed at all individuals who believe in defending the right to migrate and to create culture, as well as in the potential of diversity to generate more open, rich, and inclusive societies. It also extends to ll lovers and curious minds of culture, to city dwellers seeking to discover new talents, and to any ordinary citizen who wishes to join. We imagine people from all walks of life, including residents of the Sant Andreu neighborhood and Barcelona, **who could come together and contribute to creating networks and celebrating conscious and diverse creativity.
Team and experience
Connectats Cooperative
Connectats is a cooperative entity of associated work, founded in 2009. For over a decade, we have led processes of citizen participation and social interaction through interdisciplinary cultural projects. We specialize in promoting social innovation through culture, harnessing the transformative power of arts, education, creativity, and diversity. We highlight our contribution to creating responses to social challenges, involving cultural agents of the territory and citizenship. We have focused on working with migrants and have been able to shape a consistent and active community that defends their rights.
We have developed over 25 cultural projects, such as:
[En Palabras relatos migrantes
Fes! Film Festival #AccióJove
Why Violence?
BCN-San Salvador
Col·lectió intercultural
Both in our internal organization and in all the projects we promote, we base our work on essential values such as social inclusion, environmental sustainability, interculturality, gender equality, participation, educational innovation, community cultural development, human rights, and solidarity. These principles guide our actions and reflect our commitment to building a fairer and more equitable society through culture.
Fes! Cultura #AccióMigrant
Since 2022, we have been a resident entity at Fabra i Coats: Fàbrica de Creació, where we have consolidated the program Fes! Cultura #MigrantAction, focused on the design, production, and dissemination of transformative artistic and cultural projects driven by people who have experienced migration and now live in Barcelona. This initiative represents a collective experience of practical learning, committed to the development of anti-racist cultural proposals and the right to migrate,** which become part of the city's cultural ecosystem. At Fes! Cultura, we defend the right to cultural participation of all people living in Barcelona.
How do we do it?
We are committed to empowering, raising awareness, and mobilizing society regarding social challenges that compromise the rights of migrants, through the following lines of activities:
Training: Collective learning spaces for the design of artistic proposals with social impact.
Production: Creation, production, and exhibition of artistic pieces addressing social challenges.
Dissemination: Fes! Festival: Cultures in Resistance #MigrantAction, community events, and communication actions that articulate spaces for encounter and networking to connect cultural proposals with the Barcelona cultural environment.
Impact: Development of practical tools for evaluating the impact of cultural projects.
Fes! Festival of Cultures in Resistance
In 2022 and 2023, we held the first two editions of the Fes! Festival of Cultures in Resistance #MigrantAction, where we presented the public with over 90 transformative cultural proposals, driven by individuals born in the Global South who now inhabit this city. Proposals in dance, theater, music, cultural management, literature, circus, audiovisual arts, community arts, etc., have demonstrated that cultural diversity is a source of knowledge, creativity, and critical thinking to address current social challenges. They have been days of encounter, exchange, community organization, and celebration, at Fabra i Coats: Fàbrica de Creació. An average of 400 and 600 people attended in the years 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Who are we?
Our team consists of a community of cultural professionals, migrants or of migrant origin, who work for a more diverse, conscious, and sustainable cultural ecosystem in Barcelona. We are a small but committed group, composed of six people who believe in the power of culture to transform societies.
Diego Salazar | Co-director
Cultural manager. Co-founder of Connectats Cooperative. Since 2009, he has designed and directed over 25 cultural participation projects in Barcelona.
Gigi Ríos Ortiz | Co-director
Literary editor and cultural manager. Experience in the design, management, and direction of editorial and cultural projects with impact in Bogotá and Barcelona. Member of Connectats Cooperative since 2017.
Tomás Guido | Sustainability and Networking Strategies
Cultural manager. Expert in planning and managing cultural projects with social impact. He has worked for cultural institutions in more than 15 countries between Spain and Latin America.
Nicolás Molina - La Murga Visual | Art Direction
Creative and artistic director, specialized in graphic design, illustration, animation, and experiential design. For over 15 years, he has worked in the culture, music, and film sectors, both in Europe and Latin America.
Daniela Zuluaga | Production and Training Assistance
Editor with emphasis on alternative or community projects. Student of the Master's in Cultural Management at the University of Barcelona. She has worked with public institutions and civil society organizations developing cultural projects with social impact.
Carolina Estevez | Audiovisual Communication
Audiovisual communicator and content creator, with experience in video editing, photography, graphic design, 2D animation, video content production, and social media.
Javiera Hidalgo | Communication Assistance Journalist with experience in writing, producing, and editing multimedia content in media with a social focus. Student of the Master's in Integral Corporate Communication at Blanquerna, Ramón Llull University.