The third edition of the Summer School to Walter Benjamin  will take place in Portbou from the 28th September until the 30th September.  This year is the 200 anniversary of the birth of Karl Marx (1818-1883).  Thus, the seminar will focus on the Marxist-based thinking in Walter Benjamin's philosophy of history. The events are organised by Associació Passatges de Cultura Contemporània and Portbou Town Hall. 

This edition of the Summer School is directed by Maria Maïlat (anthropologist, writer, associate professor at ARTEFA center and former associate professor at the University of Paris V & VIII) and Pilar Parcerisas (Assoc. Passatges).  

Participants: Vicente Ordóñez (UJI, from Castellón), Yael Karavan (performer and director of the dance company Karavan Ensemble), Salvador Cuenca (UV, Valencia), Marcelo Expósito, artist, writer and teacher, Alain Badia, psychoanalyst and literary critic at University, Benoît Bohy-Bunel (University of Montpellier), Jean Calens (former professor at the School of Fine Arts in Bordeaux), Roser Amills, author of the book Asja Lacis. Amor de dirección única. 

On Saturday 29th evening will be the opening of exhibition by Ricardo Calero entitled Dreams on the limit at the Customs Hall, Portbou International Railway Station (7:30 pm). 

On Sunday 30th September at  11 a.m will take place the closing event with the reading and theatrical dialogue Bertold  Brecht / Walter Benjamin by Maria Maïlat and performed by the poets Vicenç Altaió and Carles Duarte (at La Congesta, 11 a.m). Afterwards, on the esplanade of the cemetery (12 p.m), Yael Karavan will perfom a dance dedicated to Memorial Passages, art work made by her father Dani Karavan. Finally, Anne Roche, author of the book Walter Benjamin. Exercices sur le tracé des ombres and winner of the European Prize Walter Benjamin 2018, will make a speech to close the commemorative events at the Portbou cemetery (12:30 p.m).

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

Place Exhibition: Customs Hall at Portbou International Railway Station (from 29th September until 28th  October 2018) .

Place Commemorative Events on Sunday 30th September 2018: La Congesta (11 a.m) and Portbou cemetery (12 p.m). 

Languages lectures: Catalan, Spanish, French. Simultaneous translation from French to Spanish, Saturday afternoon.

Free admission. Reservations: info@passatgescultura.org  / +34. 660827023

In the framework of the Summer School to Walter Benjamin 2018 we organise the Dance and Body Workshop by Yael Karavan from 24th to 27th September from 6 to 8 p.m. 

Drawing on elements of Dance, physical theatre, Butoh and mime, Karavan explores some of the key issues for the performer, and is offering a number of rich approaches and a palette of tools and possibilities in the creative process, rediscovering our body and the infinite possibilities that are hidden within ourselves.

Place:  La Congesta, Portbou.

Requirements: From 12 years old. Sportive clothes.

Price one day: 5 euros per person. Price all 4 sessions of the Workshop: 20 euros per person. To pay in cash on the first day.  

Free for young people under 18 ans years old. 

Please, for registrations and more information contact: info@passatgescultura.org / +34 660827023

This year we propose you to join our Reading Club "Passatges" of Portbou that is organised quarterly. 

We will comment literary works around borders, memory, exile and identities. 

On Saturday 25th August will take place the second reading session. 

The proposed work to comment is Verde Acqua by Marisa Madieri, a small contemporary classic where the author recalls the tragic and comic episodes of her childhood.

The thread of the narrative is the exodus of the Italians from Fiume, a city that in 1947 passed to Croatia within former Yugoslavia.

The work is published in Italian by Einaudi editions. In Catalan and Spanish by Minuscule editions and in French by L'Esprit des Péninsules.

Session II: Verde acqua, 25 th August 2018, 6pm.

Place: Comodoro Hotel. c / Méndez Núñez, 1. Portbou.

Free attendance. Please, register by email or phone: info@passatgescultura.org / +34.660827023

For more information see below:

We offer an itinerary through the main passages of Walter Benjamin in Portbou, including a tour to the Memorial Passages by Dani Karavan.

The Memorial is an homage to all those anonymous fugitives who go into exile in search of freedom. Recently, the Israeli artist has been awarded with the Premi Nacional de Cultura 2016 (Catalan Culture Award) for this art work.  

We hope to see you soon in Portbou to discover the last passage of Walter Benjamin.

More information and reservations available at this link.