Until the 15th October the exhibition "Memory, childhood and exile in Walter Benjamin" was open at the Customs Hall of Portbou International Railway Station.

The exhibition framework is the 2nd edition of the Summer School Walter Benjamin which took place in Portbou from the 21st to the 24th September 2017 and the Commemorative Events of the 125th anniversary of the birth of the philosopher (Berlin, 1982  - Portbou, 1940).

The exhibition included works by students from ESDAP Escola Superior de Disseny i d'Arts Plàstiques de Vic and the Oberstufen Kolleg an der Universität de Bielefeld (Germany), who created artistic works using the concepts and stories developed in the book Childhood in Berlin around 1900 by Walter Benjamin written in 1932, where he evokes his personal childhood memories in this city.

Opening hours:

Monday to Friday: 4 p.m to 8 p.m. 

Saturdays: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m to 8 p.m. Sundays: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Video Opening of the exhibition

The second edition of the Summer School to Walter Benjamin within the Commemorative Events of the 125th anniversary of Walter Benjamin's birth took place in Portbou from the 21st September until the 24th September.  

This second edition of the seminar was directed by Sigrid Weigel (Zentrum für Literatur und Kulturforschung, Berlin), with the collaboration of Chantal Benjamin, granddaughter of Walter Benjamin, social worker and training in Human Rights (Alice Salomon Hochschule Berlin), Natàlia Cantó (UOC) and Pilar Parcerisas (Assoc. Passatges).  

The sessions focused on the conceptes of Memory, Childhood and Exile found on the work Childhood in Berlin around 1900 by Walter Benjamin. Participants: Miguel Ángel Hernández Navarro (Universidad de Murica), Carlos Wiggen, philospher, Carme Alda Elorza, psychoanalyst, David Ymbernon, visual artist, Swen Seebach (UAB) and Amalia Rodríguez Monroy, writer. Students and teachers from Oberstufen Kolleg an der Universität Bielefeld (Germany) and the Escola ESDAP de Vic presented their works related to these concepts in an exhibition at the Customs Hall, Portbou International Railway Station.

On Sunday 24th September at  11:30 a.m took place the closing event with the presentation and the performance on the poetry book L'Estació de Portbou by Jordi Carrió and photos by Manel Esclusa, with editors' assistance Cuixart Goday & Quim Curbet. Reading by Jordi Carulla-Ruiz & closing by Carles Duarte, poet. 

Organization: Portbou Town Hall & Associació Passatges de Cultura Contemporània. 

Place lectures: Centre Cívic Ca l'Herrero, c/ Méndez Núñez, 2. Portbou.

Place book presentation & exhibition: Customs Hall at Portbou International Railway Station.

Free admission. Reservations: info@passatgescultura.org 

Until the 24th September the exhibition Walter Benjamin's Suitcases. Migrating devices was open at Arts Santa Mònica (Barcelona). The exhibition included imagined suitcases created by students and teachers from the École des Beaux Arts (Bordeaux), Weissensee Kunsthochschule (Berlin), Escola Llotja d'Arts i Disseny (Barcelona) and other residents from Casa de Velázquez (Madrid) based on Walter Benjamin's work and concepts. The exhibition was also shown in Madrid at Casa Velázquez (5th April-25th May 2017). 

Tuesday 19th September  2017, 5 p.m - 8 p.m. Parallel Activity 

Lecture: "Rethinking the Human Condition when History is Falling Apart. On the Actuality of Walter Benjamin's and Hannah Arendt's Critical Theory" by Sigrid Wiegel (Zentrum für Literatur und Kulturforschung, Berlin)

Presentation of the film in process Childhood in Berlin around 1900. Making-off. Producers: Aura Rosenberg & Frances Scholz. Comments by Chantal Benjamin & Lais Chaioko Benjamin, granddaughter and great-granddaughter of Walter Benjamin.