Culture in Residence

There is no true innovation without the humanities and the arts. Therefore, el Círculo de Bellas Artes And the Banco Sabadell Foundation is launching the Culture in Residence program to reflect internally on the very concept of culture, putting the notion "in residence", that is, testing it, transforming it, opening it up to new areas.

This proposal explores the possibility of fostering innovation in the business sector through the power of the arts, literature, and thought, bridging (bidirectionally) two seemingly disparate worlds: culture and business, through the Art and Humanities + Business initiative. Furthermore, it will consider moving beyond age-based segmentation of culture, examining the potential for intergenerational cultural initiatives with the GeneraCción project. Círculo.

Under a shared approach, both lines of inquiry will allow us to further explore the idea that true innovation (beyond technology) is impossible without the arts and humanities. At the same time, we will complement this approach, which has been central to the R&D&C Strategy, with the inverse question: how can we innovate (beyond technology) in the arts and humanities?

GenerationAction Círculo

Intergenerational culture

Faced with a cultural, educational and knowledge transfer environment that increasingly segments proposals by age, we intend to investigate the possibilities of offering formats that may have a genuine interest for different generations.

The aim is to reflect on cultural practices and their relationship with audiences. We will assess whether applying the efficiency criteria driven by cultural marketing (the target audience as consumers of culture) has led institutions to develop hyper-segmented programming in which encounters between audiences of different generations are impossible. This disconnect reflects many of the problems associated with contemporary life: ageism, loneliness, collective amnesia, social disengagement, and the social and digital divide.

In the preparatory phase of this project, a series of internal meetings have been held with a multidisciplinary team of humanists, researchers, scientists, journalists and artists such as: María Magdalena Sánchez Moreno, Eloísa Pérez Santos, Marta Ramos-Yzquierdo, Andrea Temes, Covadonga Blasco, Fosi Vegue, Ana Alonso, Jaime Vallaure, Carlos García de la Vega, Elizabeth Duval, Eduardo Fraile, Carla López-Cotelo, Julia Sánchez, Maider Múgica, Valerio Rocco, Alba Rodríguez, Amalia Bautista, Maria M. Bautista, Sofía García, Laura Barrachina, Jaime G. Mora, María Ramos, Antonio J. Rodríguez, David Peralto, Alberto Conejero, Joaquín de Luz and Montserrat Iglesias.

Dialogues

The GenerAcción dialogues Círculo They are an invitation to consider other possibilities for relationships between different generations, taking into account the social impact of culture and its value as a social cohesive force.

To delve deeper into intergenerational reflection, el Círculo de Bellas Artes Throughout 2025, the Banco Sabadell Foundation will feature prominent individuals from various fields (poets, philosophers, scientists, communicators, and directors of companies/foundations) who will discuss the usefulness of the concept of generation, the value of intergenerational encounters, clichés and intersections between generations, role models, mentors, the advantages of intergenerational teams in business, and the need to create spaces for conversation and community.

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Open activities

The Round Table (young poetry & other literatures)

Young poetry and literature is a slippery concept that, to many, sounds like marketing hype, and for those who are no longer so young, it arouses a certain unease. What models of socialization and shared experiences can establish a fruitful chiasmus between established and emerging authors? What can cultural institutions, publishers, and literary festivals and competitions do to foster them? The “Poetry Roundtables” project, a collaborative effort in which a senior writer or poet engages in dialogue with younger counterparts, explores these possibilities.

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“Future Senior” Forums

Within the framework of its line of intergenerational cultural programming, el Círculo de Bellas Artes Padula & Partners organizes the “Senior Future” Forums, an initiative of Merck in collaboration with the Banco Sabadell Foundation.

Four forums will be scheduled in April, June, September and December 2024, focusing on the necessary and beneficial coexistence of senior talent with young talent.

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Arts and Humanities + Business

From el Círculo We are convinced that the arts and humanities can be effective levers for change in the workplace, generating from there a centrifugal movement of social transformation.

In this same vein, the arts and humanities can be effective avenues for creating business-viable projects. Furthermore, it is essential to foster this mindset among arts and humanities professionals through collaboration with the business world, by working alongside universities, museums, and cultural institutions.

This dual direction is what, through this proposal, el Círculo It aims to highlight: the business world can and should draw on the arts and humanities if it wants to be an innovative engine of social transformation that contributes to improving the future and well-being; the arts and humanities can and should adopt business dynamics to amplify their capacity as a lever for social change.

In the preparatory phase of this project, a series of internal meetings have been carried out with a multidisciplinary team of humanists, companies, research and scientific staff, journalists and artists such as: Cristina Estébanez, Álvaro Matías, Niki Barbery, Pablo Rubio, Javier Moscoso, Elvira González, Esther Viñuela, Javier Santos or Soledad Sevilla among others.

Open activities

South Dialogues

As a bridge between teaching at SUR and the professional world, these dialogues offer a unique opportunity to spend time with renowned artists and professionals. Within the Culture in Residence program, open dialogues have been held with the artist Soledad Sevilla and the gallery owner Elvira González.