Between this Thursday and next Sunday, Seville hosts a new edition of the Hay Festival Forum Seville, a crossroads between literature, cinema, architecture and thought. Among the guests at this event, in which forty guests participate in 17 activities, the filmmaker Stephen Frears stands out; architects Yvonne Farrell (Pritzker Prize), Reinier de Graaf and Greg Clark; the South Korean economist Ha-Joon Chang; writers such as Luis Mateo Díez (2023 Cervantes Prize) and María Dueñas; and journalists like Carlos Franganillo (Telecinco) or Pepa Bueno (director of El País).
The Hay aspires to “make Seville the capital of critical thinking” with the celebration of this event, according to its director, Sheila Cremaschi. One of the intellectual axes of the event will be the transformation of cities and what agents intervene in these processes. On the horizon is the celebration of the centenary of the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, the starting point for the projection of Seville as a contemporary city.
The events related to this axis (urban evolution) will be held at the Valentín de Madariaga y Oya Foundation, while the Cajasol Foundation will be the setting for events related to literature, cinema and flamenco.
In this area, the deputy director of La Vanguardia, Miquel Molina, will interview in public the prestigious urban planner Greg Clark, one of the most lucid analysts of the role and future of cities as places of innovation and progress. The novelist and best-seller María Dueñas, for her part, will bring literature into communion with urbanism: she will guide the public through the geographies and cities that serve as the setting for some of her most popular titles.
Stephen Frears will talk with film critic Marta Medina, but the public will be able to enjoy three of his films: Dangerous Liaisons, an episode of the series State of the Union and The Queen, in which he ruthlessly portrays Queen Elizabeth II. in the days following the death of Diana of Wales. Flamenco, the city’s hallmark, will also have its space, with the invitation to the singer Nano de Jerez.
The South Korean economist Ha-Joon Chang, specialized in the so-called development economics, will speak – also without contemplation – on globalization and the free market. She will be interviewed by the British journalist Helena de Bertodano, who has great conversations behind her with protagonists of the last 25 years such as the Dalai Lama or George Soros.
In October, Seville hosted a first edition in the Andalusian capital, which was added to the one – in Spain – that has been held for years in Segovia in the month of September; There have also been two in the Alhambra in Granada. The Hay Festival is an initiative that was born in the Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye, which with just 1,500 inhabitants has 41 bookstores. In 1988 he began to hold an annual meeting with intellectuals that was enormously successful.
That is why since 1996 it has held international editions; in Spain since 2006, but also in Colombia, Mexico, Ukraine or Peru. The Hay was recognized in 2020 with the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities.
The conference opens this Thursday with the multi-artistic workshop Everything Good led by Kubbo and Mayumaná and promoted by the Banco Sabadell Foundation, which will bring together a group of young people to reflect in a creative and dynamic environment on the narrative they want to pass on to future generations.
In its desire to connect young people with culture, the José Manuel Lara Foundation has organized the activity “Reading to open the doors to the future”, which will take place at the IES Ramón Carande in the Polígono Sur in Seville. Your Secondary School students will be able to dialogue with the author of two works chosen by themselves.
The Sevillian edition of the contest has the collaboration and sponsorship of the Banco Sabadell, Cajasol, Valentín de Madariaga and Oya, Casa de Alba, José Manuel Lara and Arquitectura Contemporánea foundations; the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation; the Planeta and Penguin Random House publishing groups; Around Art; the embassies of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands and Portugal; Tourism of Portugal and Visit Portugal; the University of Seville, the College of Architects of Seville, the Almodóvar Castle and the Chamber of Commerce; and the Hotel England.
