UAB to present Catalonia's culture in Mexico

26/05/2009

On 26 May the contents of the fair were announced at a press conference with Josep Bargalló, Director of Institut Ramon Llull; José M. Murià, in representation of INAH; and Josep Maria Figueres and Eugeni Giral, professors of the UAB Department of Journalism and Communications Studies.

Giral pointed out the historical relationship between Mexico and Catalonia since many exiled Republicans found refuge in Mexico after the Spanish Civil War. He thanked INAH "for this opportunity to present Catalonia's culture in Mexico".

Figueres, who will be coordinating the activities, explained that this initiative began in 2005 when Murià proposed to INAH that UAB organise the event. He went over the contents which will be included in the fair and highlighted the seven exhibitions and different debates in which some thirty researchers from all over the Catalan-speaking regions will be participating.

Bargalló stressed the fact that relations between Catalonia and Mexico "have been culturally very varied", and listed the events in which the Catalan culture has been invited to in recent years - the book fair in Guadalajara in 2004 and the scenic arts festival of Guanajuato in 2008. He also emphasised that "this third event may not be as popular but it is known for its high academic standards".

Finally, Murià explained how the director of INAH was delighted from the beginning at the prospect of inviting the Catalan culture to the fair and that UAB was the perfect candidate to organise the event given "its close ties with Mexico during so many years". Murià made special mention to the tribute which will be paid to Pere Bosch and Gimpera, who from 1933 to 1939 was rector of the Republican Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, created during the Spanish Civil War and shut down after Franco's victory, and who later exiled himself to Mexico, where he continued with his academic and research tasks at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM).

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