The Fair

In this 23rd edition Leandro Mendoza Artagaveitia (Cíclicus Espectacles S. L.) continues to be in charge of the artistic directorship working to strengthen the Trapezi Fair with a territorial identity to become an essential tool for the Catalan Circus and a reference in the professional sector in an international level.

The artistic direction project intends to promote and regenerate Trapezi, a fair with a long history, to become a big showcase to display the circus sector in Catalonia and beyond in all its artistic tendencies.

This year’s programme offers shows by Catalan, Spanish and international companies of different tendencies, formats and techniques. All these proposals match the preferences of the artistic direction: an excellent technique and/or variety of acts and/or circus disciplines, professional productions and a clear aim to communicate with the audience. Therefore, the presented artistic programme responds to an artistic and varied line and a harmonious programme in terms of schedule, audiences (family, adult, sector) and the venues and spaces of exhibition.

One of the priorities of the fair is to work to generate a co-production network to support the artists offering them resources for creation processes and the production of more demanding shows with broader artistic teams.

The Trapezi Fair, as the Catalan Circus’ showcase, not only has to work as such during the days of the fair, but throughout the year to attend national and international events to create partnerships and future collaborations.

Trapezi is and has to be our circus showcase, but also has to go beyond: an exhibition space, a meeting and working place for the circus sector in Catalonia with local and international cultural agents.

Since 1997, Reus unfolds the Trapezi, Catalonia’s Circus Fair. Year after year, in May, streets and the theatres are filled with shows that transform Reus’ squares into stages and the whole town into a circus tent.

With its unique spirit open to diverse tendencies, aesthetics, formats and ways to understand and experience circus, Trapezi becomes a reference framework for all circus lovers, professionals, programmers and audiences, who in May have a motivation to meet up in Reus.

Trapezi received the Ministry of Culture’s Circus National Award in 2012. And previously in 2007, the Catalan Government granted the fair the National Award of Culture to the artistic directors of Trapezi for their contribution to circus development and its dignification in Catalonia, as well as for their artistic vision and the fair’s audience impact; as well as for their project’s cultural decentralization and territorial dynamization; and for having built Trapezi as a meeting and exchange point, a reference amongst European festivals.

The image of the 23rd edition of Trapezi has been entrusted to the illustrator Jan Barceló. Ovni design studio has been responsible for the graphic application of the plastic work and the design of the various elements of dissemination. Jan Barceló is passionate about experimenting with creative and artisanal processes to express his artistic vision. Barceló is a member of Queixal Edicions, an association that promotes the illustrated album and literature as a visual genre. He also teaches desktop publishing and screen printing.

A tribute to arts and crafts

Circus lover and a Trapezi spectator, Barceló relates the philosophy behind the fair, which values ​​human labor and the trade, with his work process linking the illustration and the handmade process of silkscreen printing. The image that he proposes for the 23rd edition of Trapezi presents the the circus artists arriving in the town, mounted on the emblematic elephant of the fair, with the intention to convey the circus atmosphere in which Reus is submerged during Trapezi. The image’s characters refer to some of the shows that have been presented at the festival in previous editions, with the aim to highlight the artists who have made the shows possible and to welcome those who will be featured this year. Original prints made to create the image will be displayed during the fair at the Professional Area at Cal Massó.

Ovni Comunicació Visual is a multidisciplinary studio within the field of visual communication specialized in graphic design, illustration and web design directed by Marc Díez (1981), illustrator and graphic designer, and Sergi Herrera (1977), plastic artist, graphic designer and specialist in ephemeral architecture.

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