Artes para Respirar, a podcast produced by the Festival for the Dignity of the Peoples Collective.

Text: Víctor Ibarra

Some dreams disappear when we wake. Others we pursue with our eyes open, working until they become reality.

Génesis Velasco and Tavo Rodríguez, from the Jalisco-based theater company Maldita Comedia, share in this first 2026 episode of the Artes para Respirar (Arts to Breathe) podcast that their collective dream will soon come to life on the streets and in various cultural spaces throughout the city of Guadalajara, Mexico. This will be the 1st International Encounter of Popular Arts 2026 (EIAP 2026, by its Spanish acronym), “En la Orilla (At the Edge, or On the Shore),” which will take place from Wednesday, September 30, to Sunday, October 4, in Guadalajara.

In this episode of the Arts to Breathe podcast, hosted by Carla Barrero of Bolivia and Víctor Ibarra of Mexico, Génesis and Tavo—the director and producer, respectively, of EIAP 2026 “En la Orilla”—explain that the encounter was founded in Soacha, Colombia, in 2014. Eleven editions have since been held in that municipality on the outskirts of Bogotá.

“Thanks to the Liderarte Cultural Foundation, we’ve been part of the last two editions. Tavo and I had already been thinking and dreaming about having a festival, an event, but for one reason or another it hadn’t happened yet. However, thanks to our encounter with this festival right there in Colombia, the excitement, the desire, and the inspiration to make it a reality here were reignited, and that’s how this sister project—the EIAP ‘En la Orilla’—came about,” explains Génesis.

Describing the festival’s roots in the local community, Tavo comments: “One of the most beautiful aspects of this festival is that all the groups—everyone involved in putting on a performance—also share this community-centered perspective. Whether they’re community theater groups or community dance groups, they’ve all emerged from a specific community and, from within that community, engage with the culture that lives there and touches all of us.”

Explaining the name,“En la Orilla,” Tavo adds, “The shore we’re talking about is precisely this reference to the bank of a river where everything is fertile, but sometimes the river’s current also creates this apparent chaos, which is only meant to bring more life.”

“So, we see the shore as an act of resistance as well—an act of continuing to raise our voices and remaining present, even though we feel that in many situations there are attempts to keep sidelining or setting aside all of this community culture, all of this neighborhood voice.”

Arts to Breathe: A Festival with a Cause

Four theater and social-circus companies from Soacha will bring their community-based work to Guadalajara, joining local groups in the five neighborhoods hosting the encounter: Fresno, Atlas, Centro, La Penal and Santa Cecilia—popularly known as Santa Chila. The program includes workshops, talks and performances featuring masks, puppetry, theater, circus, cabaret, music and clowning.

Arts to Breathe: A Continental Act of Dignity

Listen to the full episode of this Artes para Respirar podcast :

Check out the full program, attend, and be part of this collective dream—the International Popular Arts Encounter “On the Shore.” Here’s their Instagram for more information: https://www.instagram.com/eiaporilla/

Artes para Respirar podcast Mexico podcast