Dénia brings together the wise men of this century to reflect on the current world at the Festival de les Humanitats

The Círculo de Bellas Artes of Madrid has served as the stage for the official presentation of Dénia Festival of the Humanities. A unique multidisciplinary event, which will take place on October 27, 28 and 29 in the city of Dénia (Alicante), and will bring together influential thinkers and experts in economics, neuroscience, medicine, anthropology, philosophy, history, geography, thought humanistic, ethics and culture, among many other scientific and artistic disciplines.

Presentation Dénia Humanities Festival

Through the convening of outstanding representative figures of the Humanities, this festival aims to become a space for thought and an annual event for reflection and dialogue on the human condition, aimed at citizens who demand a critical look that allows us to understand the keys of the world in the one we live in

The festival will be developed from the different genres of humanistic culture: conferences and debates, but also exhibitions and other forms of artistic creation, which will take place in different locations in the city of Dénia.

The quality and international relevance of the speakers participating in this meeting make Dénia Festival de les Humanitats a European benchmark in the field of Humanities.

Dénia Festival de les Humanitats will feature relevant personalities from the political sphere such as Joan Subirats, Minister of Universities of the Government of Spain, or Ximo Puig, president of the Generalitat Valenciana. The business perspective will be provided by names such as Juan José López-Burniol, vice president of ”la Caixa”, or Adolfo Utor, president of the shipping company Baleària.

As a multidisciplinary meeting of reference, the academic world will have a leading role in this festival, represented by academic personalities such as Keshia Pollack Porter, president of the Department of Health, Policy and Management of the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University; Heidi Cristina Senante, Jean Monnet Professor of History and Institutions of the European Union; Jaume Casals, rector of the Pompeu Fabra University; Eva Anduiza, professor of Political Science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​or Ricardo Mairal, rector of the UNED, among many others.

The list of speakers at the festival will be completed with experts in different humanistic disciplines, such as the historians Ben Wilson and Troy Vettese, the world expert in neurobiology and pharmacology Mara Dierssen or Rafael Yuste, neurobiologist, professor at Columbia University.

Official presentation at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid

During the launch event, Joseph Ramoneda, director of La Maleta de Portbou and director of the festival's debates, has broken down the full program of the festival, whose first edition will revolve around the theme of mutations, approached from different perspectives in each of its sessions.

As Jordi Alberich, economist and director of debates at the festival, explained, "this event is an innovative, opportune and ambitious opportunity, which aims to contribute to understanding the current world".
Jorge Alarte, general director of Relations with the Autonomous Communities and Institutional Representation of the Generalitat Valenciana, has pointed out that "it is especially important to give answers to the perplexity of the times we live in, and we hope that this festival will serve to give some of those answers with thought, elaborated, contrasted and plural… beyond a 'tweet'”.

"From Balearia we are delighted to support this festival, which we hope will entice not only the world of the Humanities, but also the world of business, who must understand that the humanities are vital to promote the development of companies", said Adolf Utor , President of Baleària.

For her part, Isabel Fuertes, director of CaixaForum Madrid, highlighted the Festival's extraordinary program and “the importance of having this type of proposal that allows us to exercise reason to solve human problems”.

As the mayor of Dénia summarizes, Vicent Grimalt, "the aim is to convert Dénia - until now recognized for its great tourist potential - into a university city and a benchmark for thought, with the collaboration of all the public universities of the Valencian Community".

Dénia, cultural capital of the Mediterranean

In addition to the historical commercial importance of Dénia linked to its port, this Alicante city has also had great cultural relevance in the Mediterranean throughout history. Especially at the beginning of the XNUMXth century, with the foundation of the Taifa of Daniya, whose court brought together scientists, doctors, writers, political leaders, officials, poets and theologians for decades.

Now, Dénia aspires to recover its place as a beacon of culture in the Mediterranean. To achieve this, it has launched interesting initiatives framed within its status as a UNESCO Creative City, including this benchmark humanities festival.