Europe remains a hot topic after the impact of COVID-19. The borders in Europe today have taken on a dynamic of tension that has not been experienced since World War II. Vaccination passports open a frontier-identity. The differences between north-south, the various speeds of ideological and technological progress, the gap between the wealth of countries leads to a situation that sees progress as an unlimited evolution to infinity as climate change has tightened the rope between ecology and progress that Walter Benjamin already announced in 1940 in his Theses on the Philosophy of History. The interwar Central Europe that he experienced in first hand was the atrocious protagonist of the twentieth century and was reflected in the literary field. Visionary and prophetic writers like him through his work sounded the alarm. Kurt Tucholsky, Stefan Zweig or Franz Werfel did it. The latter crossed the Portbou border into exile. Others, wrapped in naive utopias and ideas of progress, built a more hopeful future. Disappointment and harsh reality led them into exile or suicide: Joseph Roth, Stefan Zweig. The 6th Walter Benjamin Summer School wants to work on the idea of the tension between ecology and progress from a European commitment within the framework of borders that history opens, closes and reopens due to historical circumstances; a fact that was of paramount importance in the interwar period and that still has it today. As in other editions, this Walter Benjamin Summer School will be interdisciplinary, covering literature, history, contemporary photography, architecture, music and performance and the annual exhibition in the Customs Room at Portbou International Railway Station. In this year’s collaboration with the Cerbère-Portbou Fotolimo Photography and Audiovisual Festival continues, with the participation of one of the most brilliant theorists of photography in France, André Rouillé.

Participants: Lecturers: Cari Oriol, Núria Quevedo, Frederic Corderas, Anna Dot, Claudia Kálasz, Josep Tubau, Maria Maïlat and André Rouillé; Ekaterina Záyteseva & Sofia Martínez Villar (musiciants); Jordi Pigem and Joan Falgueras, architects, and poet Carles Duarte, among others.

Languages lectures: Catalan, Spanish, French.  

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

Place Lectures 24 & 25/09/21: Casa Walter Benjamin. Av. de Barcelona (old town hall Portbou).  

Place Concert Saturday 25/09/21, 8 p.m.: Casa Walter Benjamin. Av. de Barcelona (old town hall Portbou).  

Place Exhibition (opening 26/09/21, 10.30 a.m.): Customs Room at Portbou International Railway Station.

Place Commemorative Events on Sunday 26th September 2021 (12.30 p.m.): Portbou cemetery.

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.