The Theatres of the City of Barcelona and Community Art: An Approach

Over the last decade, cultural and theatre policies have tended to include the concept of “culture as a resource” (Yúdice, 2003) with the aim of going beyond it from a perspective of sustainability of performing practices as such (as a deficient artistic activity). Although there are critical voices that seek to overcome this concept, it is difficult to escape this redefinition of the uses of culture. This article reviews part of the recent literature on community art and the social shift in cultural policies. After analysing the concepts of democratisation and cultural democracy as a touchstone, a list of the social and educational activities of the main theatres in Barcelona is compiled, which shows that, apart from a couple of community artistic activities, most focus their work on audience development through participatory activities, meetings and workshops, aware of the multidisciplinary nature of the new pedagogical trends, which make arguments in favour of the positive values of non-formal education through artistic practices.