The Biennial of Thought invites to action to change things

Barcelona"What can we do? How can we act? How do we invite action?" These are some of the questions asked during the presentation of the Biennial of Thought, which for ten years now—this being its fifth edition—has turned Barcelona's public squares into a place for debate and reflection. In an increasingly dark world, ideas are more welcome than ever, and this year the reflections do not aim to be nostalgic or apocalyptic, but rather aspire to focus on the present with the motto "Unleashing the present".

Among the more than a hundred thinkers, writers, artists, activists, and creators who will pass through Barcelona from October 13th to 18th are Alessandro Baricco, Lilian Thuram, Angélica Liddell, Mariana Enriquez, Wendy Brown, Felwine Sarr, Patrick Radden Keefe, José Luis Guerín, Fina Birulés, Jean-Philippe Kindler, Xiaolu Guo, Juan Mayorga, Maryam Madjidi, or Chantal Maillard. "In a moment of deep crisis for democracy, it is necessary to politically rearm the city," asserts the director of the CCCB, Judit Carrera.

The city, precisely, is one of the great themes of this edition, in which democracy, war, inequalities, migrations, identities, and hate speech will also be discussed. Coinciding with the World Capital of Architecture, housing, urban inequalities, and the transformation of public space will be addressed. "We want to talk about real problems and architectural and urban solutions," says Carrera. European cities will be discussed: Patrick Radden Keefe provides a devastating portrait of London in The Oligarch's Son (Edicions del Periscopi); regarding Kyiv, the Ukrainian writer Sofia Andrukhovych will address the meaning of writing amidst destruction and the responsibility to preserve collective memory; and the nocturnal city will be reflected upon by the writer Mariana Enriquez. Without forgetting Barcelona: "A city much more plural and much more diverse than a decade ago; 70% of the population of the Raval is immigrant, and there are debates and challenges that we cannot avoid," admits Carrera, who is part of the Biennial's curatorial team.

What can we do?

The crisis in Ceuta also brings to the table where the city's limits lie, what it means to be a city, migration, inequalities, or why it is urgent to find tools against hate speech. Chantal Maillard, professor of philosophy, poet, essayist, and specialist in Eastern thought, will speak about utopias. "We want to debate utopias that can be realized here and now," asserts Albert Lladó, coordinator of the School of Thought and curator of the Biennial. Rafael Vilasanjuan, director of translation and impact at ISGlobal, who is also part of the curatorial team, expresses himself along the same lines: "Faced with major global challenges, what do we do? We have wanted to incorporate a young and peripheral perspective, with voices from outside Europe," he assures. "We want to talk about what is being done in Gaza, about how, through art, culture, journalism, and knowledge, the city is being rebuilt," he adds.

Precarity, work, education, mental health, and the uncertainties of youth are other topics that will be reflected upon. Ninety years after the start of the Civil War, historians Xavier Domènech and Julián Casanova will also speak on a topic as current as the battle of memory.

The CCCB, Plaça Joan Coromines, La Model, and Plaça Major de Nou Barris will be the nerve center of a program that will also reach numerous spaces such as the Hivernacle in Ciutadella Park, the La Sedeta and Casa Orlandai civic centers, and Plaça de les Glòries.