The Performing Arts Center-El Canal de Salt participated last week in the prestigious Up Festival in Brussels. It is one of the most important events around the world of contemporary circus around the world and El Canal was one of the fifteen entities that formed part of the Catalan delegation through the Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises (ICEC) of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat and with the internationalization brand Catalan Arts.
The presence of El Canal in this important international competition is another step for the creative center from Salt towards the internationalization of the space and the possibility of meeting centers of reference in the world of circus such as the Walloon Community of Brussels, which it has 6,700 square meters of surface area dedicated to this discipline or the visit that can be seen at different facilities in the city of Ghent. The director of El Canal, Xavier Díaz, admits that being part of the Catalan delegation at the Up Festival “was a good opportunity to get to know reference spaces in the world of circus, as well as being able to explain the ambitious project of El Canal to take steps in this discipline now that we are also part of the European and cross-border EKO-Pyreneus de Circ project”.
In addition, two of the companies that have taken up residence at El Canal, such as the artist Manel Rosés and the company Palimsesta, were able to show their shows or a taste of them as part of this landmark event. For this reason, Díaz also emphasizes that “we are happy to see how companies that we have had working at El Canal in recent months are opening the doors of such important festivals as the Up Festival in Brussels”.
The presence of the Salt center at the Belgian festival has also made it possible to create spaces for relationships and exchanges of experiences and knowledge between the Catalan and Belgian professionals present at the meetings.
In this sense, the mayor of Salt, Jordi Viñas, emphasizes that “the participation of El Canal in the Catalan delegation of this important festival shows that the ambition of this project located in Salt is taking shape and that after a year it is already considered a creative engine in our country and continues to take steps towards internationalization. If a few weeks ago they presented the European EKO-Pyreneus Circus project, now being at the UP Festival once again places Salt and El Canal on the map of the circus world to continue advancing in the goals set by this equipment”.
