institut ramon llull

Iolanda Batallé Prats, director of the Ramon Llull Institute explains how Catalan literature is going from strength to strength 

25 events across the country showcasing best of Catalan books, dance, music, art, cinema, and theatre

Institut Ramon Llull director Iolanda Batallé Prats on literary diversity, the London Book Fair and the joy of picture books

Projects with a variety of organizations in Europe and US aim to spread Catalonia's day of books and roses to an international audience

Bookstores and publishing houses showcase large selection of Catalan-language titles and translations in Barcelona

Two upcoming international book events to feature Catalonia as guest of honor

Celebrated Catalan RCR Arquitectes showcase their plans for the future at the Venice Biennale in an otherworldly installation

Barcelona becomes first city invited to Buenos Aires Architecture Biennale

One of Catalonia’s most beloved festivals, Sant Jordi, will be celebrated in a record 50 countries worldwide this year. Although Catalonia’s Patron Saint Day is on the 23^rd of April, there are activities related to books and roses—the main protagonists of the day—scheduled over the course of a few weeks in New York, Bogotá, London, Melbourne, Johannesburg, and many others. The Delegations of the Catalan Government abroad play a key role in exporting Sant Jordi around the world. Also active is the Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), which is a public institution in charge of promoting Catalan culture and language, and the University Network of Catalan Studies Abroad. Thus, exhibitions, public readings, stalls selling books and roses, and elements of Catalan culture, such as traditional human towers (Castellers), will deliver the spirit of Sant Jordi all over the globe.

The exhibition ‘Ramon Llull and the encounter of cultures’ landed on Wednesday at the Espai Catalunya Europa in Brussels and will remain open until January. This itinerant exhibition of the IEMed – the European Institute of the Mediterranean – is part of the events organised in commemoration of the 700^th anniversary of the death of Ramon Llull. The aim of the exhibition is to “explain a little more about what was the world of Ramon Llull” and the role he played “in establishing a dialogue between cultures, civilisations and different religions”, the Executive President of IEMed, Senén Florensa, told the Catalan News Agency. The exhibition has already visited Tarragona, in southern Catalonia; Vic, in central Catalonia; Valencia; and Barcelona. 

More than 6,000 students worldwide learn Catalan language and culture in 28 countries in Europe, America, Asia and Oceania. More than 150 universities teach Catalan at different levels, 88 of which receive funding through Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), a public body in charge of promoting Catalan culture and language abroad. Indeed, in 2016 IRL designated €1,270,722 to helping to fund the teaching in these universities. These are some of the figures on the University Network of Catalan Studies Abroad, presented this Tuesday by IRL’s director, Manuel Forcano. According to him, the Network “offers a very positive image of Catalonia to the world since it promotes the Catalan language everywhere”. France, Germany and the United Kingdom are the three countries with the highest number of universities teaching Catalan. 

The Catalan pavilion at the Venice Architecture ‘Biennale’ brings architecture to life with the project ‘Aftermath_Catalonia in Venice. Architecture beyond architects’. This project, set to represent Catalonia, is curated by film director Isaki Lacuesta and architects Jaume Prat and Jelena Prokopljevic. The three propose to open a dialogue between architecture and cinema; according to Prokopljevic, the aim is to “teach architecture from the point of view of the user, with buildings that are in use, and to flee from the moment when architects show the buildings when they are just finished and about to be opened, when they are all clean and have no life”.

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York inaugurated this Tuesday 'Joaquín Torres-García: The Arcadian Modern', a retrospective of Torres-García's works in painting, sculpture, fresco, drawing and collage. The exhibition, composed of 190 pieces, is the first of this Catalan-Uruguayan artist to be displayed in the US in the last 45 years. One of the most renowned artworks included in the retrospective is one of the four large murals that the artist designed for the 'Saló de Sant Jordi' one of the most iconic rooms in the Catalan Government's headquarters, 'Palau de la Generalitat'. The mural has been dismantled and moved to New York especially for the occasion.  The exhibition on Torres-García is set to go to Madrid and Málaga after its run at the MoMA.