Alicante City Council, through its Department of Culture and the Local Development and Employment Office, is set to launch the Creative Residences program at Las Cigarreras. The funding framework is divided into five lots, totaling 193,019.82 euros with VAT included, and the program runs through December 31, 2023.
The initiative is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). As part of the Urban Development Axis 12 within the Operational Program for Sustainable Growth for 2014-2020, it aligns with Europe’s broader strategy to foster urban renewal and creative economies.
The cultural strategy emphasizes strengthening the city’s artistic ecosystem and positioning Alicante as a compelling hub for contemporary culture, both on a national and international level. The plan aims to support and promote the local art scene while highlighting the city’s cultural assets to a wider audience.
Five distinct residency lines will be offered to develop, explore, and produce creative projects. These lines include: a natural creation track for experimental electronic music; a pathway for audiovisual creation; a line for photography; and an interdisciplinary research track. Each line is designed to help artists and researchers push boundaries and collaborate across disciplines.
The Las Cigarreras Cultural Center residency program seeks to make Alicante an attractive setting for contemporary culture. Its goals are woven into the Integrated Sustainable Urban Development Strategy EDUSI for the Las Cigarreras region. The strategy illustrates how the various action lines connect and reinforce one another to build a vibrant creative economy.
A network of coworking spaces will be created using municipal resources, including facilities such as the local Sergeant Vaillo housing site and the historical Las Cigarreras complex, to foster opportunities for local creators across a wide range of artistic disciplines. This network will function as a collaborative hub where artists can share facilities, exchange ideas, and develop projects in a supportive environment.
Creative Residences
Each residency strand addresses specific needs. The residence for creation in performing arts welcomes creators working in theatre, circus, dance, performance, and other movement-based disciplines. The creation for experimental music invites sound artists, experimental electronic musicians, and creative coders or any professional capable of developing projects within the spectrum of experimental sound and dance music.
The residencies for artistic creation in audiovisual media will host artists researching and producing in the context of new media, including digital art, audiovisual work, experimental cinema, and video art. For the visual arts residencies, photographers and image practitioners, researchers, and cultural producers will focus on image-related projects. Finally, the interdisciplinary research residency will bring together collaborators from different fields to tackle a common question from multiple perspectives, enriching the overall creative process.