Put the city to play

Since 2024, La Juan Gallery has assumed the artistic direction of the Madrid City Council's Carnival celebrations with a simple yet powerful idea: to get the city playing. Not as escapism, but as a form of collective intelligence. The mask—an ancient gesture of transformation—is the starting point for activating imagination, humor, and a critical eye, exploring alternative identities, and celebrating what unites us.

We understand the program as a living ecosystem: the street as a stage, the plaza as a vibrant heart, the parade as a moving image, and the workshops as a laboratory where the imagined becomes action. Tradition and contemporary elements engage in dialogue: heritage contributes memory and ritual; the performing arts and music add risk, rhythm, and a sense of the present. Participation is not an add-on, it is the very structure: those who watch also compose, those who dance write the narrative.

We focus on a clear, accessible, and visually striking aesthetic, taking into account the sustainability of materials and the accessibility of experiences. Diversity is not a thematic block, but rather the way in which the whole is organized: plural in languages, generations, and origins, united in its desire for connection.

More than a list of activities, we propose an experience: Madrid in a conscious celebration mode, where body, sound, and masks draw a new map of the city. A moment to develop open, shared, and joyful futures. Here, everyone is welcome; here, for a while, everyone can be someone else.