Project Space Festival Juárez

A celebration can be defined as an occasion in which we engage in enjoyable social activities to commemorate an important event. Historically, they were also associated with healing. That is, they were used after war as a way to recuperate from the dead of loved ones and the horrors of battle. Also, celebrations are considered central to create cohesiveness within the community. They can also be associated with animalistic behavior, going into trance, Dionysian experiences. A perfect example of this would be Burning Man.

Today, going out to party is also associated with consumption of illegal substances and addictions; making huge profits for drug cartels. Thus, it is a way of supporting a decadent life, associated with vice, illegality, and violence. A city like Juárez, represent perfectly this paradox associated to the concept of celebration.

Juárez is known because of its nightlife, which began to grow during the prohibition period in the United States. People from the north would come every weekend to Juarez to have a good time. There were many nightclubs and shows every night. It was associated with a no mans land, with freedom and decadence. Songs like Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues from Bob Dylan or Cocaine Blues by Johnny Cash are proof of this. All these improved the economy and population of the city. It made of it a very intense and vibrant city. However, a few years ago, Juárez was rated as the most violent city of the world. The main cause of the violence was narcotraffic. This lead us to the following question: Is it possible to have a deeper understanding of the identity of Juárez as we reflect upon the meaning of a celebration? This is the central aim of Project Space Festival Juárez.

Artists from Berlin and Juárez have been invited to collaborate and generate a visual dialogue addressing the idea of a celebration. Berlin artists were invited because of their long tradition of making artworks that respond to the nightlife and everything that happens in it. They were also invited because they celebrate and reflect upon what others may consider sinful, outrageous, or illegal—different practices that are part of “weekend rituals”. Such practices are also not foreign to Juarez nightlife. Thus such artworks may help to have a deeper understanding of what happens in Juarez over the weekend. Project Space Festival Juárez is born as a result of a collaboration with the founders of Project Space Festival Berlin and with the desire to make the art relationship between Juarez and Berlin stronger.

Project Space Festival Juárez is focused upon the importance of having recreational time, ludic time. It is inspired by: (1) the idea that parties are forms of art that cannot be captured by any medium, you have to be in it to experience it; and (2) the strong electronic culture within the city that practices ancient rituals associated with the party such as the power of dancing together.

Project Space Festival Juárez is a five-day celebration at the end of November 2016.