Oviedo 2031 launches Puxa el Barrio, a programme bringing artistic creation to community centres

The City Council of Oviedo has launched Puxa el Barrio. Arte que habita, a programme that will transform municipal community centres into active spaces for creation, mediation and cultural participation. The initiative is part of the bid for Oviedo Capital Europea de la Cultura 2031 and reinforces its commitment to a culture that is close, inclusive and connected to everyday life in neighbourhoods.

The project develops one of the strategic lines of the Plan Estratégico de Cultura de Oviedo (PECO 2035) through the implementation of artistic residencies in different community centres across the municipality. This action responds to a strategy aimed at guaranteeing cultural rights and promoting a decentralised, participatory and accessible cultural life, in which culture also acts as a tool to address challenges such as democratic participation, coexistence and the reduction of inequalities.

Puxa el Barrio is conceived as an umbrella programme that will host artistic residencies across both urban and rural neighbourhoods, bringing contemporary creative processes into local, everyday spaces. Artists from disciplines such as dance, theatre, music, photography, design and new technologies will develop projects in direct collaboration with local residents, with the aim of turning community centres into living spaces where culture is not only consumed, but collectively created.

The proposals will be developed through artistic mediation processes that facilitate encounters between creators and communities, generating new forms of relationship between citizens and culture. In the coming months, neighbourhoods will begin to host residencies, open workshops and shared creative processes that will enable people to actively engage in the cultural life of their surroundings.

The first project, Huellas, will begin in May at the Buenavista and La Corredoria community centres with a proposal focused on photography and memory. Through this process, participants will work with archival images and personal stories to explore their environment from new perspectives, with no prior experience required. The initiative offers a creative approach to the collective memory of the neighbourhood, combining individual work with group dynamics that encourage the sharing of experiences, expectations and ways of inhabiting the territory.

With this initiative, Oviedo aims to activate a network of spaces where art becomes part of everyday life, strengthen the cultural and associative fabric and create new opportunities for grassroots and local culture. The programme also contributes to the professionalisation of the creative sector and reinforces the role of community centres as drivers of social and cultural innovation. Puxa el Barrio is also conceived as a long-term initiative, aligned with the vision of the Oviedo 2031 bid: a culture that is shared, collectively built and centred on citizens.