The ‘Survival vs. Resilience’ project will turn Badalona into a laboratory of art and science to anticipate the future of society. This project by the Fundación Épica La Fura dels Baus, in collaboration with the Institut Germans Trias i Pujol, ICN2, ICFO, and BIST will take place from July 11 to 24 at the old CACI factory in Badalona. Take a look at the videos funded by GraphCAT that made this collaboration possible!
The Fundación Épica La Fura dels Baus launches ‘Survival vs Resilience‘, a project that will turn Badalona into a laboratory of art and science with the aim of anticipating the future of society. The Badalona City Council, the Fundación Épcia La Fura dels Baus, the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) and the Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) presented their collaboration this week in the framework of the new project. The activity, which will take place from July 11 to 24, aims to address scientific challenges proposed by research groups through the performing arts. It will take place in the heart of the city of Badalona, the old CACI factory. In attendance at the press conference about the project were Àlex Montornés, deputy mayor of Badalona; Jordi Barretina, director of the IGTP; Júlia García, scientific director of the IGTP; Àlex Argemí, head of communications at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2), one of the CERCA centres that is part of BIST; and Pep Gatell, president of the Fundación Épica La Fura dels Baus and artistic director of La Fura dels Baus.
Dr. Júlia García wondered what impact art can have on research: “Creativity is the common denominator of both disciplines. We have to transfer to society what research is and why we do it: the performing arts are not as far away as it seems from science and research“, added the scientific director of the IGTP.
Àlex Argemí, head of marketing and communication at the ICN2 and representing BIST, explained that the project “is a space for mutual inspiration” and that the seven research centres that make up the BIST want to “maximise the impact of science on society, as well as understand its expectations“. He also highlighted that the GraphCAT project, funded with FEDER funds and with the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya, has worked to make Catalonia an international benchmark in graphene applications. Two graphene-related projects from GraphCAT have entered the creative process: one led by the ICN2 Advanced Electronic Materials and Devices Group about neurotechnology related with the BrianCOM project and the INBRAIN Neuroelectronics spin-off; and another led by the BIST centre ICFO about the graphene “magic angle” that creates new physical phenomena with interesting potential applications. “The Fundación Épica La Fura dels Baus offers a new channel, a new way of explaining what we do: not only making an emphasis on scientific innovation but also on how it is communicated. Science is also culture“, he concluded.
Pep Gatell, president of the Fundación Épica La Fura dels Baus and artistic director of La Fura dels Baus, said that science “works the future, trying to change it by contributing its knowledge“. In this sense, he explained that the Fundación Épica La Fura dels Baus has been working for five years in the anticipatory arts, creating false realities of possible or probable futures. “We must be in constant contact with research centres that go hand in hand with science and technology: art cannot be left out of the equation, and we want to create a centre for basic research in advanced arts“, explained Gatell. “Science and technology are formidable inspirational tools, but we must have first-hand knowledge of the scientific and technological revolutions that are taking place“, he added, “The contamination between disciplines is a characteristic of La Fura dels Baus and its trajectory of more than four decades: on this occasion, we will try to contaminate computational philosophers with neurotechnologists and scholars of linguistic and brain convergence, with graphene experts“, he concluded.
Àlex Montornés, first deputy mayor of Badalona, explained the “new point of view that the Fundación Épica La Fura dels Baus brings“. Highlighting the work of Can Ruti, he explained that the project ‘Survival vs Resilience’ “makes art and science compatible, which are disciplines that really need to talk“. This dialogue promotes and values “critical thinking“.
‘Survival vs. Resilience’ will bring together more than 30 creatives from around the world and five multidisciplinary research groups. Some of them have already worked with the organisation, including the CNRS and the UOC, while others, such as the Catalan BIST research centres ICFO and ICN2, and the German HLRS are collaborating for the first time in this initiative. As for the first two, they focus their challenges on graphene, a material that anticipates the future of society. As for HLRS, the participating group composed of computational philosophers proposes experiments on trust and misinformation in human behavior. The closing of the project will be on the 23rd and 24th in a final workshow at the old CACI factory in Badalona. It will be a demonstration open to the public (with previous invitation) and the media.
The ICN2, ICFO, and BIST have co-funded the discussion and debates that led to this opportunity through GraphCAT FEDER funds. The following two videos are the result of the interactions that made Graphene a strong component of this innovative outreach action that will have an impact among the artistic community and a number of followers of La Fura dels Baus international scenic arts company:
Learn more:
Survival vs. Resilience
ICN2 news piece
GraphCAT