University of Amsterdam to host a workshop on Barça and Catalan culture

On Tuesday, the University of Amsterdam will be hosting an extensive workshop on Catalan culture to coincide with the Champions League meeting between Ajax and Barça. It is all part of the agreement signed last September between the Club and the Institut Ramon Llull to promote Catalan culture around the world. A similar event was held in Paris in April, and there was another last November in Glasgow.

The event is open to the public and begins at 11.00 with a welcome from the rector of the University of Amsterdam, L.J. Gunning-Schepers, and the director of the Institut Ramon Llull, Àlex Susanna. After that, the institutional vice president of Barça, Carles Vilarrubí, will be giving a lecture titled ‘Barça, Sport, Culture and Education’, where he’ll be explaining how Barça is used to recover the Catalan identity and as an instrument for integrating immigrants. He we also be explaining the club’s famous values regarding teamwork, effort, respect, humility and tolerance. Then the Costa Brava-Girona Pyrenees Tourist Board will be offering the chance to taste a variety of Catalan products.

Afternoon session

After lunch, things restart at 13.30 with a discussion between two translators of Catalan literature, Frans Oosterholt and Pieter Lamberts, chaired by Anna Escofet and which will discuss the path Catalan literature has taken towards normality.

The day ends with a screening of Neus Ballús’ masterpiece 'La Plaga', a movie nominated for the European Film Awards in the European Discovery category. It will be followed by a discussion with the writer and producer of the film, Pau Subirós.

The whole occasion is a wonderful platform for the international projection of Catalan culture, involving three different areas: academia, literature and artistic creativity.

Aims of the agreement

Through signing their agreement in September, the IRL and FC Barcelona proposed two main objectives. The first was to coordinate the two institutions’ potentialities as ambassadors for Catalan language and culture and the value associated to the union of Catalan culture with sport. And the other is to bring together the network of universities offering Catalan Studies abroad and coordinated by the IRL, with the international network of FCB supporters clubs, in order for them to organise joint activities. There are 150 universities around the world that offer Catalan Studies.