Disruptive art, technology, and innovation form the three pillars of the Contemporary Initiatives Front in Villena. For five years, the town has welcomed this initiative, bringing cutting-edge contemporary artistic creation closer to residents and visitors alike, free from restrictive contracts and official red tape. The program unfolds on a budget of 50,000 euros, with 70% funded by the City Council of Villena and the remaining 30% shared by the Institut Valencià de Cultura and the Diputación de Alicante. A total of 23 free offers will run for five days, from October 18 to 22, showcasing photography, video art, performance, video mapping, dance, and sound, along with visual or urban art.
FIC presents unique experiences such as a workshop titled I Love Dancing, but I’m Terrible at It, a participatory dance activity for audiences of all abilities. Another offering, Electromagnetism by experimental artist Marti Guillem, guides the public in creating works that generate sound through electromagnetic waves. Paula Zamora leads a session on How to (and should not) read a contemporary work, a playful critique of popular culture through the lenses of iconic figures like Mickey Mouse, thinker Georges Bataille, and the reality show Keeping Up with the Kardashians.
The competition director and Villena Culture House representative, José Ayelo, explains that FIC returns with the aim of presenting artistic expressions and processes beyond the usual clichés and away from commercial circuits. The project seeks to serve artists who push boundaries, often quoted as saying, If not, who will? Villena is also home to VEM, the city’s music initiative, which hosts concerts throughout June featuring more than a thousand participants. The festival also makes space for Villena Dance in August.
Ayelo notes the enthusiastic reception of the Contemporary Initiatives Front, especially the engagement with educational institutes. He emphasizes that experimental art in Villena is not a distant affair but something accessible and local, with artists once focused on solitary exhibitions now finding audiences beyond the regional borders of the Valencian Community. FIC operates with a three-person commission—Andrés Leal, Helena Ferrando, and Ana Esteban—responsible for scouting new trends and selecting the programming.
Among the highlighted offerings, a premiere performance will take place in a non-traditional venue: the Pyramid parking lot on Sunday, where a dance company will perform a piece that interweaves choreography with visual arts. A collaboration with Canadian artists conceptually linked to the festival was prepared with support from the Institut Valencià de Cultura.
FIC begins this Wednesday at the House of Culture, presenting Tomas Verdu alongside the show Green chair/ Green Cadira, a fusion of performance, dance, audiovisual language, and textual theater that explores creative blocks. The program continues Thursday with Amanda Bernal presenting work in secondary schools and visual arts by Dimasla, and a mural by Elche graffiti artist Roice 183. The event also features Facing the Wall II and a mirrored video mapping by Manolo Soler in Plaza de Santiago.
On Friday, a dynamic day of performance and visual culture unfolds, including Spectral Cosmology by Luis Macías and Alfredo Costa at the Hermitage of San Antón, and Castellón’s Paco Poyato, whose work critiques consumerism and globalization by transforming the window of an abandoned shop into an invisible wall of paintings. Marti Guillem returns to demonstrate the synesthetic effects of light, and the day concludes with contemporary flamenco performances, the Unclimbable Alps, at the Chapí Theater, followed by a music concert featuring Ales Cesarini and Payoh Soul Rebel, with Mil Pesetas Jazz Club.
Saturday’s Visual Confidence program features a video art showcase with works by Amanda Bernal Aujik, Yoshi Sodeoka, Nicole Kotus, Iury Lech, Dirk Koy, and Dagmar Schürrer. Villencese artist Luis Giménez returns to the Culture House stage with the Unknown Spanish Levant project. The night culminates with a journey through roots music from around the world, blended with live visuals, with Abraxas and the Screen Warriors appearing in Plaza de Santiago.