Round Table: Galapagos Art and Science Journey. 14 January, 2020
January 14, 2019, 7 p.m.
The Royal European Academy of Doctors
Salon C, Via Laietana, 32, 08003 Barcelona
Participants:
Joan Fontcuberta, artist and participant of the expedition.
Jorge Carrión, writer and participant of the expedition.
Tatiana Kourochkina, director of Quo Artis.
Ismael Nafría, director of the National Geographic magazine Spain.
José Ramón Calvo Fernández, president of the RAED Interdisciplinary Research Institute.
Moderator:
Cecilia Kindelán, professor and journalist.
Inspired by the relevance of the Galapagos Islands – and with the support of the Royal European Academy of Doctors RAED – Quo Artis Foundation organizes Galapagos Art & Science Journey, an expedition and a laboratory of ideas, where artists and scientists will reflect on the future of humanity and non-human species through a series of artistic projects and a cycle of debates. The expedition, which will take place from September 16 to 27, 2020, will be a unique experience that continues with the mission of Quo Artis to encourage interdisciplinary and innovative projects.
Within this framework, on January 14, 2020 at 7:00 p.m., the foundation and the RAED organize a round table that aims to reflect on the relationships between art and science, the climate emergency and the transformative power of artists and scientists working together.
Artists and scientists tackling the climate emergency
In a global world, territorial limits are fading away. A journey is a central element in any investigation, and today maybe even more, although the reasons seem to be multiple. In our world, the global world, we must take actions to reverse the damage done, we must take care of the environment and stop competing with nature, since we are in fact a part of it. Galapagos Art & Science Journey is an expedition inspired by the relevance of these islands, as they as they are pioneers in policy implementation of sustainable development and environmental protection.
Organized by the Quo Artis foundation- and with the support of the Royal Academy of European Doctors RAED- this expedition invites a group of artists that tackle issues related with the environmental crisis: ranging from acoustic pollution to waste residue, from imaginary botanical atlases to underwater contamination. Galapagos Art & Science Journey creates a laboratory of ideas where artists and scientists can reflect upon the future of humanity and non-human species, through artistic projects and a cycle of debates. Through this interdisciplinary journey, we become explorers of the future.
Galapagos Art & Science Journey received UNESCO’s patronage, to be considered an initiative that seeks to promote international cooperation and explore solutions for today’s economic, social and environmental challenges to achieve a sustainable future and, as such, it aligns with the mission of UNESCO.
The trip, which will be carried out on board of Endeavour II - a National Geographic ship with energy-efficient lighting- will have a printed publication by RAED, as well as a digital and printed publication by Quo Artis.
Participants
Jorge Carrión
Phd in humanities from Pompeu i Fabra University (Barcelona) and directs the Master in Literary Creation of the same institution. He has lived in Buenos Aires, Rosario and Chicago. He has published in several newspapers and magazines such as El País, La Vanguardia and Letras Libres. Carrión is the author of a fiction tetralogy (which includes Los muertos, Los huérfanos, Los turistas and Los difuntos) and is also the author of several non-fiction books, such as Australia. A trip, Teleshakespeare and Bookstores. He was the curator of the Sebald’s Variations exhibition, at the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona CCCB. His work has been translated into Chinese, Portuguese, Italian, German, French, Polish and English.
José Ramón Calvo Fernández
Phd in Medicine from the University of Córdoba and Professor of Health Education at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. He has been executive director of the Spanish Office of the International Center for Migration, Health and Development, founder and director of El Barco de la Excelencia project, and executive director of Fundación Excelencia, where he has directed the Campus Excellence for Nobel Prize Winners and students. He has been medical director of Mead Johnson-Bristol Myers Pharmaceuticals in Spain and Portugal. José Ramón is currently the president of the Institute of International Cooperation and Numerary Academic of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (RAED).
Joan Fontcuberta
Joan FontcubertaIs a renowned conceptual photographer, as well as a writer, editor, curator and teacher, who has played an important role in the consecration of Spanish photography internationally. He was one of the founders of Photovision magazine, originally launched in 1980, and which became an outstanding publication in the field of European photography.
His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Barcelona, the Reina Sofía National Art Center Museum, Madrid; the Hermitage, St. Petersburg; The Museum of Modern Art, New York and the Maison Européen de la Photographie, Paris, among others. In 1994 he was appointed Knight of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture. In 2013, he won the prestigious Hasselblad Photography Prize and in 2016 he received the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize for his contribution to “theoretical reflection on the role of images in contemporary culture”.
Tatiana Kourochkina
Is the Co-founder and director of Quo Artis, a non-profit organization born in Barcelona to promote international artistic projects based on science. Concerned about the environment, in 2017 she organized an expedition of artists and scientists to Antarctica to draw attention to the thaw of what is the largest existing freshwater reserve on Earth. Due to its multicultural value, this project has obtained the status of World Heritage, granted by UNESCO.
Between 2010 and 2015 Tatiana Kourochkina was the director of the TK gallery in Barcelona, an exhibition space with a cross-cutting theme and of varied genres, interests and techniques, from technology, painting, photography to video-installation and sculpture. In the gallery there were exhibitions of international artists such as Eduardo Kac (video artist internationally recognized for his interactive installations and for his bio-art works), Andrea Galvani and William Lamson, Mari Ito and Vitaly Pushnitsky among others.
Ismael Nafría
is the director of the National Geographic Spain magazine, journalist, writer, consultant, teacher and lecturer specialized in digital media. Author of the book The Reinvention of The New York Times (2017) and editor of the weekly newsletter Tendenci@s. He has been a journalist in residence at the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas at the University of Texas in Austin (United States) during the 2016-17 academic year. He has been part of the digital management teams of the Godó (2008-2016) and Prisa (2005-2008) groups. Nafría is the author of three other books: Web 2.0. El usuario, el nuevo rey de Internet (Gestión 2000, 2007), Internet es útil (Plataforma Editorial, 2008) and Sr. Director. Les millors cartes dels lectors de La Vanguardia (Ara Llibres, 2004)
With the support
