The Agency of Art Europaeum Winter School

Within the framework of the “Planetary Wellbeing” project, promoted by the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, MACBA is collaborating with the European university network The Europaeum and the UPF, hosting one of their Europaeum Winter School sessions. The project’s objective is to introduce and promote debate on the innovative concept of “planetary wellbeing” and the challenges it poses in contemporary societies. The school’s aim is to deepen the formulation of this idea, which lies at the intersection of various disciplines, of the social sciences and the humanities, and to open a space for reflection and dialogue within the framework of institutions of higher education. It provides students with the opportunity to share discussions with academics at different points in their career who are working on related topics, as well as with leaders of international organisations and major foundations.

The session slated for the MACBA, open not only to students enrolled in the Winter School but also to members of the public who may be interested, proposes a reflection on how art can help understand and respond to the challenges of the 21st century. Planetary problems such as climate change cannot be addressed, let alone solved, through science alone. Science gives us explanations and possible solutions, but we also need emotion: we must be moved by the explanations being offered to us. The facts alone, as Bruno Latour explains, are not enough to make us act. This social activation could come through art; that is, those spaces of creation that touch us, that are more intense than scientific explanations. In this session, an art theorist, a philosopher and a curator will try to explain how the changes we need can spring from art.

The activity is held in the MACBA Meier Auditorium, but you can also follow it live on the museum’s website and YouTube channel. All sessions will be in English, with no simultaneous translation.