In 2021, IMAGINARIUS: Festival Internacional de Teatro de Rua – International Street Theatre Festival of Santa Maria da Feira is celebrating two decades of promotion and diffusion of street arts, through projects of innovation and artistic experimentation across the region.
In view of the “new normality” imposed by the pandemic outbreak that we are experiencing, the programme will take place in two unique and distinct moments. First, during the month of May, from 27 to 30, in a hybrid format, with alternate programming between two public spaces: the internet and the gardens and cultural facilities of the region. In September, from 9 to 12, the second moment will take place in the public space of the streets and squares of Santa Maria da Feira, the natural stage of IMAGINARIUS, with the presentation of the shows by domestic and foreign companies, already with the presence and participation of the public.
This edition of IMAGINARIUS is taking on the challenge of approaching the Myth and Brand themes, thus seeking to conclude a trilogy started in 2019 with the Memory theme, which was meant to have continued in 2020 with Myth and would now culminate with the Brand theme.
With regard to the Myth theme, the entire programme was designed to propose a reflection on the various perspectives of myths and their interconnection with the arts and with societies. From the various creations and projects of domestic and foreign artists and companies, the public will be guided in a narrative – digital or physical – to explore, interpret and feel the myth universe and the various mythological aspects or elements.
With regard to the Brand theme, the challenge posed in 2021 to local, national and international artists and creatives was to build artistic projects for the festival, based on their reading and analysis regarding their impact on the region and, above all, in the way in which the IMAGINARIUS brand became a matrix of identity and presence of Santa Maria da Feira at the domestic and international level of street arts and in public space.
The 2021 programme seeks the dialectic between myth and brand, represented by the duality between the imaginary world (myth) and the real world (brand), in a narrative built to stimulate the public’s participation and cultural fruition, starting from the artistic language and creativity of the various artists that take part in this festival.
