The International Street Art Festival of Puerto de la Cruz Mueca recovers the great space of the street to display more than 30 artists and companies in seven spaces, four universes, different routes and themed routes that will host more than 50 theater shows, music, dance, literature, circus and clown from May 5 to 8. This twentieth edition has been presented to the media on April 27 in front of the corporeal people who have gone “around the world thanks to social networks”, according to the mayor of Porto Marco González.
In addition to the first mayor in the informative appearance were the Deputy Minister of Culture and Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands, Juan Márquez; the director of the Department of Innovation and Digital Talent and the Tenerife Convention Bureau of Tourism of Tenerife, Terry Mederos; and Hortensia Hernández, spokesperson for the Cómplices Mueca platform. On the other hand, there were also sponsors (Aqualia and Valoriza), collaborators (CIT), artists (Abubukaka and La Pandilla) and associations (AsmiPuerto, Visión Azul and Fundación Canaria José Luis Montesinos) who will lend their names to be the surnames of the different festival spaces.
Puerto de la Cruz continues to create its cultural and creative ecosystem based on citizen participation. The return to normality was celebrated with the recovery of the street and its usual dates. “I want to invite you to discover the festival, it is a great opportunity to enjoy international shows. We recover the public spaces in which we will enjoy a lot”, explained the mayor, Marco González. He added that Mueca has no collection purpose, proof of this is that most of the shows are free.
Juan Márquez, Deputy Minister of Culture and Cultural Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands assured that if Mueca went ahead during the pandemic “now there is a lot of hope to return to normality and see the capacity on the street at 100 %. There is citizen involvement and the Performing Arts are a fundamental tool for reflection”, he said.
For his part, the director of the Department of Innovation and Digital Talent and the Tenerife Convention Bureau of Tourism, Terry Mederos, spoke about how a process of tourist repositioning has been witnessed in the city of Porto through culture. “Mueca is an example of how you show tourists the best you have,” he assured.
Hortensia Hernández, spokesperson for the Cómplices Mueca platform, was satisfied with this twentieth edition, which also coincides with the tenth anniversary of the platform’s creation. “Puerto de la Cruz has wanted Mueca to be better”, he declared, alluding to the important citizen component within the festival.
Also participating in the presentation of the Mueca 2022 program was Braulio Domínguez, Aqualia’s production manager, who was delighted to participate with Mueca since “it is a way of getting closer to Puerto Rican society and complies with our values of corporate social responsibility”, he explained. For her part, María José Baute, representative of Valoriza, stressed that it is an immense pleasure to participate in Mueca preparing the spaces and “we only hope that it continues to be a great festival and we invite everyone to come”.
Juan José Hernández, president of the Center for Initiatives and Tourism of Puerto de la Cruz, also intervened, which “renews more than ever the commitment that has always been made from the CIT for a festival that represents the identity of a city that is the pioneer tourist destination of Canary Islands”. The press conference was closed by the representatives of the social groups who, through the voice of Lalo Martín from Fundación Canaria José Luis Montesinos and Doly Vega from Vision Azul, thanked them for having the honor of participating in the great family that is Mueca.
True to its vocation to offer a wide range of shows and activities for audiences of all ages and conditions, Mueca 2022 will have the international presence of Onyx Productions (Australia), ZeC (France), Jabrú Teatro de Títeres (Colombia), Mimo Tuga (Chile), Common Ground (Germany), Soralino (France), Mimbre (United Kingdom), Les Dudes (Canada / Finland), Cie Paris Bénarès, to which are added the national creations of Cía The Chanclettes (Barcelona), Kamchàkta (Barcelona), Guga&Silvia (Barcelona), Cía D’Click (Zaragoza) and Circ Pistolet (Barcelona), as well as an outstanding Canarian representation with Abubukaka, Colectivo Bankora, Troysteatro, Laboratorio Escénico, Sara Maurin Kane, Javier Rodríguez, Sohu. , Bloko, La Pandilla, Cía Nómada, Javier Arozena, Cía MoBBAA, Cía Paula Quintana, Cristina Hernández, Guachipandixie, Paradise Swing Association, PlaTEA, as well as groups and institutions such as Aprolite, the Canary Islands Superior Conservatory of Music and the Escuela of Music of Puerto de la Cruz.
On this occasion, the Mueca program expands its presence in the thematic streets (universes) and also the number of stages, thereby extending the perimeter of the festival. Another novelty of this edition is the increase in dance performances, a book fair in the Plaza del Charco as well as activities of a training nature or that promote culture as a fundamental element of the processes of change, both for the city and its inhabitants as well as for those who visit it.
