We have been invited to take part in the 11th Culture and Citizenship Meeting, organised by the Ministry of Culture and taking place in Barcelona on 26 and 27 September 2025. An event that brings together cultural agents from across Spain to reflect on the role of culture in building concepts such as citizenship, social justice and democracy.
Our participation is included in the official programme of the meeting and offers us the opportunity to share, with other organisations and professionals, the experience gained over more than five years leading a unique project in Catalonia: artistic residencies that provide shelter, support and a safe space for creation to artists in danger, persecuted in their countries of origin for political reasons, gender, sexual orientation or simply for exercising their freedom of creation.
Barcelona as a city of refuge for artists
Since 2019, we have been part of the international network Artists at Risk (AR), a platform that connects more than 300 organisations and has supported hundreds of creators around the world. Barcelona joined this global network to become a cultural and vital refuge, at the intersection between human rights and the arts.
Over these years we have accompanied artists from very diverse contexts: from Grammo Suspect, Kenyan rapper and LGTBIQ+ rights defender, to Ukrainian and Iranian playwrights and filmmakers, as well as trans performers and activists who have found here a space to rebuild their lives and continue their work. The project goes beyond providing shelter: we work on administrative regularisation, psychosocial support, artistic production and connection with the Catalan cultural fabric.
Culture as a tool for justice
The invitation to Culture and Citizenship acknowledges the relevance of this model, in which culture is understood as a tool for social justice. Each residency represents not only the possibility for an artist to continue creating, but also the opening of a dialogue with Catalan society, which receives their vision and stories as a living testimony against censorship, repression and forced exile.
In this sense, our residencies are both a place of resistance and an international loudspeaker denouncing the violation of fundamental rights. Participation in forums such as this national meeting allows us to share lessons learned, establish new alliances and place the work for freedom of creation and the right to refuge at the centre of cultural policies.
An invitation to join
The NO CALLAREM Artistes en Risc Barcelona project would not be possible without the support of public institutions, cultural spaces and a wide network of collaborators. Above all, however, it is sustained thanks to the collective commitment of those who believe that culture must be a space of diversity, care and resistance.
Our presence at Culture and Citizenship is also an open invitation to all citizens to get to know the project, collaborate and spread its message. Because in the face of censorship, persecution and silence, our response will remain clear: NO CALLAREM – WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED.
Our participation will take place on 27 September, between 11:00 and 12:00, under the title:
Projects. Aesthetics of resistance: artistic creation and a culture of peace
With the participation of:
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Teresa Palop Torello. INCERT. International Festival of Live Arts. Catalan Association for Peace. Various locations in Barcelona and Girona.
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María Jimena Galán Dary and Maya Juracán. La Bienal en Resistencia. Guatemala.
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Fernando Paniagua de Paz. NoCallarem – Artistes en Risc Barcelona. Panorama180 Association. Barcelona, Santa Coloma and Santa Bàrbara. Barcelona and Tarragona.
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Azza Satti. The Rest. Nairobi, Kenya.
