On October 9, 2026, the Minister of Culture, Linguistic Policy, and Sports, Vanessa Gutiérrez, introduced the new branding for Asturies, Cultura en Rede, a cultural cooperation program between the Principality of Asturias and local municipalities. This initiative aims to bring performances, exhibitions, and other cultural activities to towns throughout Asturias.
The announcement coincides with several open calls for cultural circuits and the Rede de Teatros y Auditorios del Principáu d’Asturies (RETEA), as well as the upcoming fourth edition of Escena en Rede, a professional showcase dedicated to the performing arts.
The new visual identity reflects the program's core mission: to create a network that connects culture and territory. The design incorporates themes of communication, connection, and Asturias, symbolizing the relationships between creators, projects, cultural spaces, municipalities, and audiences across the region.
Asturies, Cultura en Rede is co-financed by the Principality and local councils, facilitating the movement of performances, exhibitions, and other cultural proposals across various municipalities. Projects are selected through public calls and are included in digital catalogs. Municipalities then choose which activities to incorporate into their programming, thus bringing diverse cultural offerings closer to their residents.
The network covers circuits dedicated to performing arts, visual arts, music, cinema, literature, traditional culture, cider culture, and oral storytelling, along with specific initiatives like Autores nel Camín and the Xira Didáctica.
The current open calls will help shape the upcoming catalogs for Asturies, Cultura en Rede. The deadline for submitting projects in performing arts, music, literature, oral storytelling, traditional culture, and cider culture is October 13. For visual arts, where proposals for new exhibitions are selected for production and subsequent display in various cultural spaces, the deadline extends to November 30. Selected activities will be scheduled between January and June 2027.
Additionally, RETEA, a new collaborative structure among major theaters and auditoriums in Asturias, aims to provide a stable offering of performing arts and music. Its first call remains open until October 13 for companies, producers, and distributors to submit proposals for theater, dance, music, circus, magic, object theater, puppetry, and multidisciplinary projects. This call is also open to companies and promoters from outside Asturias, although it mandates that at least 70% of contracted performances must be from Asturian companies. Each performance must meet the technical requirements outlined in the call and comply with the venues where they will take place.
A digital catalog will be created from the selected proposals, which will be available to municipalities with the necessary infrastructure that choose to join the network. Each municipality can select the performances they wish to bring to their stages, with programming scheduled from December 18, 2026, to June 30, 2027.
October will also feature the fourth edition of Escena en Rede, organized by the Ministry in collaboration with EscenAsturias, taking place from October 27 to 29 at various venues in Laboral Ciudad de la Cultura. Over three days, the showcase will combine public performances with training sessions, discussions, and networking opportunities for companies, artists, programmers, and institutions.
The program will feature performances from Proyecto Piloto, Circo Bajo el Tejado, ACAR Teatro, Dana Raz, Saltantes Teatro, Teatro del Cuervo, Higiénico Papel Teatro, Guayominí, Norbayu, El Callejón del Gato, Popy Vegas Teatro, and MonoEscena. Theater, dance, and circus performances will take place in both indoor and outdoor spaces at Laboral, with free access until capacity is reached.
The professional meeting will commence prior to the showcase, with two intensive training sessions on October 14 and 15 focused on regional funding for the performing arts and strategies for engaging audiences in the digital environment. Registration for both sessions is currently open.
During Escena en Rede, three roundtable discussions will address topics such as artistic residencies, the current state and challenges of distribution, and opportunities for building networks and alliances beyond Asturias to expand the reach of performing arts projects. Artists, programmers, and institutions can register for professional activities until October 23 at 14:00.
The new branding for Asturies, Cultura en Rede will accompany these calls and activities under a unified identity. While the symbol has changed, the underlying principle remains: to cooperate in ensuring that culture circulates, reaches more places, and becomes an integral part of daily life in the municipalities. This network supports creativity and affirms the citizens' right to access and participate in culture, regardless of where they live.
