The city as a stageculture, citizenship and transformation 

'Art is not ornamental, but rather a tool for public intervention capable of transforming collective memory and identity.' Chris Baldwin.

Organized by the IEA Art Area, the event 'The City as a Stage: Culture, Citizenship and Transformation' took place on March 3rd 2026, in the auditorium of the Provincial Council of Huesca and was led by performance director, curator and writer Chris Baldwin. 

Natalia Juan García, Professor of Art History at the University of Zaragoza and Director Área de Arte del IEA and Roberto Ramos de León from the Institute of Arts (IEA) moderated the session.

The event took place in Spanish, and Chris focused his remarks on the need to democratize major cultural events and reclaim public space as an arena for genuine participation.

“How can we transform these spaces into more democratic cultural spaces? Because event planning is usually very top-down. The public is very passive. Clearly, it's an opportunity to be able to intervene and create the event from the very beginning”. 

Natalia Juan opened the event by framing the political conception of culture and pointed towards Chris's concept that the city is “an act of reflection” where citizens recognize themselves through their cultural expressions. She emphasized that Baldwin’s method consists of “creating with the local people, not for the local people” and reminded the audience that culture is, ultimately, “a political act.” 

Chris shared the core of the Theatre of Creation (ToC) and citizen-centered dramaturgy - approaches to creating large-scale performances designed for a specific location and realized in close collaboration with the citizens of that location - have culminated in major events in several countries.