Imaginarius is a cultural project of the Municipality of Santa Maria da Feira dedicated to art in public space, comprising an annual international festival and a creation centre.
.
Presentation
Imaginarius is a cultural project of the Municipality of Santa Maria da Feira dedicated to art in public space, conceived as an ecosystem that integrates creation, presentation and critical thought within a single strategic vision. It is grounded in the understanding that public space is a political and cultural site, where art does not emerge as ornament, but as a language that intervenes, questions and builds community. In this context, artistic creation in public space is approached as a demanding contemporary practice, shaped by social, urban and symbolic dimensions.
The annual festival of performing arts in public space constitutes its most visible and internationally projected moment. Over few days, Santa Maria da Feira is transformed into an expanded territory of encounter between artists and companies from different geographies, sector professionals and diverse audiences. Streets, squares and buildings become stages for projects that cross disciplines, explore new dramaturgies and engage directly with the territory, affirming Imaginarius as a reference within the national and European landscape of performing arts in public space.
Throughout the year, the creation centre sustains and deepens this vision. It hosts artistic residencies, promotes research and co-production processes, and creates the conditions for works to be developed and to evolve in dialogue with the territory. This continuous dimension reinforces the project’s qualitative ambition, investing in artistic rigour, experimentation and the national and international circulation of the works produced.
Between festival and creation centre, an expanded dynamic is built that includes training, mediation, professional encounters and strategic reflection on the sector. Imaginarius works with the territory as an active agent, with its own identity and memory, fostering connections between creation, production, dissemination and debate. More than an annual event, it is an ongoing project that strengthens the cultural ecosystem, affirms the contemporary value of public art and invites artists, professionals and citizens to imagine shared space as a site of collective responsibility and a future in the making.