Consol Ribas and Lluís Llamas: Recovering forgotten voices with the Pepe Sales Festival

Consol Ribas and Lluís Llamas, directors of the Pepe Sales Independent Art Festival, open the doors to the 19th edition of the event, this year dedicated to Suzuki Shizuko. From January 24 to February 4, the festival once again becomes a space for the intersection of disciplines, thought and contemporary creation. Bonart has spoken with them to learn first-hand about the keys and programming of the Pepe Sales Festival 2025.

Who was Suzuki Shizuko and why was she silenced?

Suzuki Shizuko was a postwar Japanese poet who, despite being successfully published and read at the time, ended up erased from the collective memory. After Japan's unconditional surrender in 1945 and under American occupation, Shizuko wrote from a deeply uncomfortable place: she was a liberal woman who used haiku as both an intimate refuge and a tool of revolt.

She loved an African-American soldier—a deeply stigmatized fact—and wrote uncompromisingly about the body, desire, precariousness, and survival in a defeated and occupied Japan. Her connection to the panpan girl universe and her radical freedom remain uncomfortable even today. These same reasons are what caused her voice to be silenced at the time.

What is the budget for the Pepe Sales Festival 2026?

The budget of the Pepe Sales Festival 2026 combines the own resources of the La Penyora Cultura Association with institutional support and the transfer of spaces. As in all editions, we work from an austere production model, but very rich in content, made possible thanks to the altruistic involvement of artists, creators and technical teams. The main value of the budget is not so much the figure as the ability to generate an intense, singular and unprecedented program with limited resources.

How did the idea of dedicating the edition to Suzuki Shizuko come about?

The idea was born from the discovery of a haiku by Suzuki Shizuko that struck us deeply for its freedom and forcefulness. That feminine, marginal and powerful voice connected fully with the spirit of the Pepe Sales Festival. From here began a search that has ended up crystallizing in the cultural recovery of an author practically unknown in our context.

What aspects of your work and personality connect most with the spirit of the festival?

Suzuki Shizuko writes from the margins, breaking the boundaries of traditional haiku—both in terms of metric and content—and turning poetry into an act of vital resistance. Her way of understanding art and life, as a radical affirmation of freedom, is very close to the spirit of the Pepe Sales Festival.

What message or reflection do you want to convey to the public with this edition?

We want to invite the public to hear a necessary voice. Suzuki Shizuko's poetry speaks of freedom, dignity and resistance, and opens up very current reflections on the condition of women, violence, desire and the capacity of art to survive adversity.

Will there be international collaborations or cultural exchanges with Japan?

Yes. This edition reinforces cultural exchange with Japan through various cultural and editorial collaborations. It is worth highlighting the participation of the Japanese school Som Japó , whose students have translated the haikus into Catalan, as well as the work of Editorial Lapislàtzuli, responsible for publishing the book, and the collaboration of NIPPÒNIA Idiomes.

What role will poetry play in the 2026 Pepe Sales Festival?

In this edition, poetry is the backbone of the festival. All activities are based on the haikus, life and work of Suzuki Shizuko. The festival is entirely dedicated to her and also aims to be a tribute to all the women who have suffered — or still suffer — sexual slavery in war contexts.

What is the philosophy of the Pepe Sales Festival?

Our motto is culture, criterion and freedom. The festival wants to generate critical thinking and its own criterion. Everything that is achieved is possible thanks to the involvement of artists, technicians and collaborators, who demonstrate that culture can be built from exchange, involvement and love, beyond money.

After nineteen editions, what role does the Pepe Sales Festival play within the current cultural landscape?

It is a space for discovery. When the festival begins, often no one knows the author; by the time it ends, the audience already loves her. This ability to make forgotten voices loved is one of the festival's strongest identities.

What would you like the audience to take away from this edition?

The feeling of having discovered an essential author and of having created an emotional bond with her. And also a reflection on all the silenced and exploited women throughout history. If that happens, the job is done.