Visiting Artist Programme at Sismògraf 2026
In late April 2026, six international artists joined Sismògraf's 19th Edition in Olot as part of the Visiting Artist Programme. This year's festival was built around the act of walking – as a physical practice, a political gesture, and a way of staying in motion when the world feels unsteady. It turned out to be a fitting frame for three days of exchange.
Into the programme
The visit opened on Thursday evening with a Meet & Greet dinner with Sismògraf's artistic team and VAP liaison Georgina Avilés, setting the tone for the days ahead.
Friday morning started with choreographer Pere Faura leading Moving, Flocking and Disco-Dancing at the Escola Municipal d'Expressió – a physical practice moving from warm-up to collective movement to disco, designed to shake off first-day formality and get people into their bodies together. It worked.
After a visit to the Teatre Principal d'Olot with the artistic team, the visiting artists took part in an Artist Sharing session – presenting their own practices to programmers and colleagues from the local scene. A chance to be both guest and host.
Lunch that Friday at La Tintoreria brought together the international artists with Azucena Moya Morcillo and Carlota Grau Bagès, the two Catalan artists supported by Sismògraf to participate in the VAP encounters – Azucena attending the VAP at Dublin Dance Festival in 2025 and Carlota the VAP at STHLM DANS in 2026. Around the same table, both directions of the exchange became visible: what it means to be welcomed somewhere, and what it means to arrive.
Debates and discussions
The afternoon brought Shaken, Not Stirred – an open discussion forum provoked by Marta Oliveres and Margarida Troguet, deliberately open-ended and accessible to all.
That evening, Voetvolk led the group on the Nomadics Walk, a three-hour journey through the landscape surrounding Olot that led directly into the performance of Nomadics at the Teatre Principal – eight dancers exploring how nature looks back at those who move through it.
Midway through Saturday, the group gathered for a Walk & Talk through the city – a structured reflection designed to echo the festival's own name and context. The two questions on the table: what underground shifts are currently driving your creative work? And what has been the most unexpected connection of these past few days?
The conversations that followed were searching and, at times, uncomfortable. One question in particular stayed open: are we – as artists and festival professionals – participants in a system we're unhappy with, or activators of change within our own contexts and communities? Sismògraf's own framing – the body as a political territory, simultaneously border and bridge – hung in the air as people spoke. Each person approached it from the specificity of their own reality: their country, their municipality, their practice. No conclusions, but a genuine conversation.
On the street
Saturday's programme spread across the whole city, with performances in squares, parks and outdoor spaces. One moment stood out: Granotes al cel, aigua a la terra! by Banda Esfèrica, a festive and participatory piece invoking rain through dance and collective movement. The audience didn't need convincing – they joined in immediately, and the energy that followed was a clear reminder of what street performance can do that indoor work cannot. It was a vivid experience of community and shared presence.
Carlota Grau Bagès, who created the piece as part of Banda Esfèrica, was also soon to carry her practice to a new context as Sismògraf's VAP artist at STHLM DANS – taking that same energy elsewhere in the network.
The evening ended with WE. Nosaltres i els temps by Mal Pelo at the Teatre Principal, and the Sismoparty into the night.
Closing
Sunday brought a final coffee and a closing gathering at Parc Nou – the same park where the festival had been staging its last performances – before everyone headed home.
The Visiting Artist Programme at Sismògraf offered something straightforward but not always easy to find: time and space to look at work, think together, and make connections without pressure. The conversations that started in Olot will find their way forward in studios, residencies and future collaborations.
Participating artists in the Visiting Artist Programme at Sismògraf 2026
Abigail Agius (Malta)
Francesca Chiodi Latini (Belgium / KAAP)
Rita Lira (Ukraine / La Briqueterie)
María Ganzaráin (Spain / Festival Trayectos – Red Acieloabierto)
Daniel Morales (Spain / Cuadernos Escénicos – Red Acieloabierto)
Linda Wardal (Sweden / Danscentrum Sverige)
VAP Liaison at Sismògraf: Georgina Avilés Sarrias