Cycles of perormance art

Since 1992, Marta Pol Rigau has initiated and curated programmes and festivals that have helped shape and bring visibility to performance art in Catalonia and internationally. The Espais programme (1992–2007), held at the Centre d’Art Contemporani Espais, introduced performative practices by artists such as Pep Aymerich and Joan Oliver, establishing a programming model that combined conceptual rigour with dialogue and public engagement. The Sin Número – Arte de Acción festival (Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, 1996) brought together international artists and consolidated a platform for encounter and critical reflection on performance practices.

Her curatorial work has also explored the relationship between action and discourse, notably through the programme How to Activate Dialogue? (2006, Fundació Espais), as well as through the curation of performance programmes at the MACBA (1998–1999). More recently, she has curated programmes that continue to investigate the conceptual and political dimensions of performance art, including Re-enactment (Casa de Cultura de Girona, 2021–2022), The Face of Medusa on Minerva’s Shield (Tarragona, 2025), Octavia or the Praise/Strategy of Love (Sant Cugat, 2025), and Portlligat, Where the Olive Tree, the Sea and the Wind Dance with the Milky Way (Casa Museu Dalí de Portlligat, 2025). In 2026, she took part in the Thursdays of Voice and Word programme at Santa Mònica (Barcelona, 2026).