The UB will be one of the voices of Atri dels Gentils, a forum for exchange and debate among scholars

According to Armand Puig, dean of the Faculty of Theology of Catalonia, the objective of the forum is that “the important matters of the Church can reach society through mutual respect and dialogue”.In this occasion, the concepts of Church and culture have been joined and contemporary thinkers have been invited in order to reflect upon a particular issue.

Cardinals Lluís Martínez Sistach and Gianfranco Ravasi will take part in the forum, together with the art critics Juan Manuel Bonet and Daniel Giralt-Miracle, the theologian Santiago del Cura, the philosophers Xavier Rubert de Ventós and Rafael Argullol, the illustrator Perico Pastor, the poet and physicist David Jou, the writer Carme Riera, the sociologist Salvador Giner, the philologist Jordi Llovet, the musician Joan Guinjoan and the editor Jaume Vallcorba, among others.

 

The opening ceremony of Atri dels Gentils will take place on Thursday 17 May at 19:30, in the MNAC. The Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, Prefect of the Pontifical Council for Culture, and the Catalan Minister of Culture, Ferran Mascarell will give an address. Afterwards, different talks will be given. The art critic Daniel Giralt-Miracle will focus on “La humanitat de lʼésser humà, fonament de lʼart”; the monk of Montserrat and anthropologist Lluís Duch will give the talk “El símbol, entre el present i lʼabsent”; Rafael Argullol, rector emeritus of the Pompeu Fabra University and lecturer of Aesthetics, will speak about “Lʼart com a contemplació i comunió”, and Micol Forti, from the Vatican Museums, will look at “Lʼart religiós, àmbit de revelació i de diàleg entre Déu i lʼhome”. The rector of the Ramon Llull University, Esther Giménez Salinas, will moderate the dialogue.Lídia Pujol, accompanied with the organ by Dani Espasa will give musical performances.

 

The Paranymph Hall of the UBʼs Historic Building will hold on Friday 18 May the activities of the second day. The event will be chaired by the Cardinal of Barcelona, Lluís Martínez Sistach, and the rector of the UB, Dr. Dídac Ramírez. The philosopher and theologian Francesc Torralba will give the talk “Tan sols podem estimar les coses belles (Agustí). La via de la bellesa a lʼamor”; Alessandro Zuccariwill tackle the topic of “Bellesa real, bellesa ideal? El cos en Caravaggio”; Jordi Llovet, philologist and historian of literature at the UB, will reflect upon “La visió de la natura en la poesia de Hölderlin”, and Xavier Rubert de Ventós, philosopher of the UPC, will give the talk “La relació usar-gaudir. Hi ha una bellesa que pugui salvar el món?”. Pere Lluís Font(UAB), vice-president of the Joan Maragall Foundation, will moderate a dialogue among the speakers. The String Quartet of the Higher School of Music of Catalonia (ESMUC) will offer musical performances.

 

From 15:30 on, the IEC will hold the third event of Atri dels Gentils at the Prat de la Riba Room. Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasiand Salvador Giner,president of the IEC, will chair the event. The talks will be given by Fèlix Riera, director of Catalunya Ràdio (Cataloniaʼs public radio station), who will look at “Pràctiques culturals i destinació social en lʼart”, and Juan Manuel Bonet, former director of the IVAM and Reina Sofía museums, who will focus on “Lʼespiritual en lʼart”. Afterwards, the documentary Moments musicals, by the film director Albert Serra, will be screened, which will be followed by the round table “El procés de creació artística com a acte de transcendència”, with the participation of Perico Pastor, painter; Joan Guinjoan, musician; Carme Riera, lecturer, scholar and writer, and Lluís Pascual, theatre director. Jaume Vallcorba, editor and writer, will moderate the round table.

 

The fourth event of Atri dels Gentils will take place at the Basilica of the Holy Family, at 19:30, and will be chaired by Cardinals Gianfranco Ravasi and Lluís Martínez Sistach. Under the title El diàleg de les veus: poesia i música a la Sagrada Família, the event will start with a reading of biblical passages, which will be glossed by Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi. The dialogue between theologians will be carried out by lecturers Santiago del Cura(universities of Burgos and Salamanca)and Armand Puig i Tàrrech(Faculty of Theology of Catalonia). The dialogue between poets will be carried out by David Jou, lecturer of Matter Physics at the UAB and poet, and Gemma Gorga, lecturer of Philology of the UB and poet, too.

 

La música com a diàleg is the name of the musical space, coordinated by Cori Casanova(Ramon Llull University) and Mar Pujol,in which will take place more than 600 singers belonging to 24 musical ensembles, with male, children, mixed and female choirs. Under the baton of several conductors, eight choral pieces will be performed, the last one being “Avui és el dia que ha fet el Senyor”, by the composer Bernat Vivancos, who is the conductor of the Montserrat Boys Choir. Previously, the soprano Montserrat Caballé, accompanied by the organist Juan de la Rubia, will offer some musical pieces. The event will conclude with an address by Cardinal Lluís Martínez Sistach and the singing of “Hallelujah” from Händelʼs Messiah, with the participation of the organ and a metal band.