The Biennial of Thought 2024 comes within the context of the European Capital of Democracy (a year of activities about democratic innovation and participation), meaning the workshops, discussion and talks in the Biennial will revolve around the challenges facing cities in our time, but also about the future of democracy, globalisation, ecology and inequalities.

The curators for this fourth edition are Xavier Fina, Mar Rosàs, Raül Garrigasait and the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB).

Major figures from literature, science, sociology and anthropology will be discussing matters such as the use and abuse of memory and nostalgia, making the case for ways of living that are compatible with the existence of the planet and talking to us about a humanism open to diversity, freedom and care.

Guests at the Biennial include the visual artist, writer, Perejaume. This artist and poet has given life to his own artistic system, critical of globalisation and linked to rural lifestyles. His preference for decreasing growth is clear in the titles of his last two exhibitions: One translates as “Stop doing an exhibition” and the other, “Ah, Perejaume, if you saw the volume of work around you, you wouldn’t produce any more!”

You will find even more outstanding names from contemporary culture invited by the CCCB. These include the Nobel Laureate for Literature from 2009, Herta Müller. This Romanian-born German novelist, poet and essayist has spoken in many of her works about life under the Ceaucescus in Romania.

Other guests include the Brazilian journalist, writer and documentalist Elian Brum, whose reports have brought her all sorts of international awards, the British writer and essayist Zadie Smith, known for her multi-ethnic and multigenerational novel White Teeth and her ironic take on today’s world, On Beauty.

These are just some of the many guests who will be taking part between October and November. Check the website for more information.