Centre Pompidou Málaga Launches the Second Edition of the Live Arts Festival
The multi-venue Live Arts Festival (Festival de Artes Vivas, or FAV 2026) returns to Málaga from April 13 to April 25, 2026. Organized by the public agency managing the Museo Casa Natal Picasso and other municipal cultural venues, this second edition brings together more than ten diverse stage proposals. Visitors to Málaga can expect an array of live performances, contemporary dance, interactive workshops, and theatrical pieces designed to transform traditional museum galleries into dynamic spaces of creative interaction.
Experiencing Contemporary Performance in Málaga's Art Spaces
The festival spreads its programming across several of the city's key cultural institutions, including the iconic waterfront Centre Pompidou Málaga, the Museo Casa Natal Picasso, the Colección del Museo Ruso, and MUCAC La Coracha. By bringing performing arts directly into exhibition halls, the festival invites the public to rethink how they interact with static museum settings.
The event launched with Otro, a collaborative performance by dancer and choreographer David Coria and flamenco singer David Lagos. Hosted at the Centre Pompidou Málaga, this opening piece established the festival's experimental tone, presenting a raw dialogue where traditional flamenco movement and song are continuously reshaped.
Other city venues host equally diverse projects. At the Colección del Museo Ruso, artist Aïda Colmenero Dïaz presents Qué importa el abismo, a multidisciplinary performance combining cinema, literature, and dance, alongside short film screenings featuring African women. Meanwhile, at MUCAC La Coracha, Marc Montijano's performance piece El trabajo del tiempo: la práctica de la espera explores themes of human patience, transformation, and change.
Highlighted Performances at Centre Pompidou Málaga
One of the central pillars of the festival is Lucero, an extensive performance intervention by artist Alessandra García taking place over eight consecutive days at the Centre Pompidou Málaga. Rather than staging a conventional theater show, García will inhabit various areas of the museum's striking building, creating a temporary coexistence between daily visitors, the physical architecture, and live art.
García's daily program varies continuously, featuring spontaneous movement sequences in the exhibition rooms, participatory dialogues, and a marathon 24-hour session where she performs brief interventions every hour. While some actions are exclusive to visitors inside the exhibition galleries, updates and glimpses of her residency will be shared via the center's official Instagram channel.
The Centre Pompidou Málaga will also stage Ruido, a sharp comedy written by Jose Padilla and performed by Zaira Montes and Juan Vinuesa. The play delves into contemporary themes of job precarity, deception, and chance encounters in a modern urban setting.
Community Workshops and the Festival Finale
Collaborative and community-focused projects form a significant part of the FAV 2026 schedule. The project Parque, led by Cristian Alcaraz and Violeta Niebla, merges real-time writing, performance, and local outreach. Following preparatory workshops with local neighborhood groups and organizations supporting social inclusion at multiple museum sites, a collaborative public presentation will take place at the Colección del Museo Ruso on April 17.
The festival draws to a close on April 25 at the Colección del Museo Ruso with Gero Domínguez's performance Yo no soy la obra, which blends flamenco vocals by Perrate, guitar by Maui de Utrera, contemporary music, and poetry. The performance will be followed by an artist panel discussion moderated by Daniel Galindo—who also hosts a live public recording of the Spanish National Radio cultural show La Sala during the festival—and concludes with an informal DJ set and artist meet-and-greet.
To secure your entry to the performances, visitors can book their tickets in advance through the official booking portal.
Planning a cultural getaway to Spain's southern coast? Let Musemap (musemap.art) help you navigate the city's dynamic arts scene. You can easily explore museums in Málaga or use our interactive platform to browse the Málaga cultural map to plan your next visit around the city's historic center and harbor.
