Forum Barcelona 2004

The Forum is a new international event that will be held in Barcelona from May 9 to September 26, 2004. The aim is to provide a space for dialogue and reflection on the main cultural and social challenges and problems facing humanity in the 21st century.

The event will bring together agents from all social sectors and cultures to work toward new forms of coexistence that respect cultural diversity, sustainable development and the conditions necessary for peace—the Forum’s three central themes. These goals will be pursued through dialogue, reflection and a wide range of entertainment and cultural activities.

Why? Within a global framework marked by the process of globalization, there is a growing need for innovative responses to the transformation of many existing models of coexistence. The Forum acts as a space where citizens can, individually or at the collective level, build bridges based on dialogue, reflection and interaction concerning the answers needed at the outset of the 21st century.

Who? The Forum is being jointly organized by the Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Autonomous Government and the Spanish Government, and has the unanimous support of UNESCO, the Forum’s main partner. Those who will play the central role in the Forum are the people and organizations that are engaged with the real world in which we live and committed to the future we can build: citizens of the world, civic and social organizations, cultural bodies, the world of teaching, corporations and professionals, religious communities and public institutions.

The Forum Program Proposal was made public on July 15, 2002. Forum organizers then decided to open a process of public participation in order to optimize the definition of program content. This process was carried out by means of the “Give your opinion” space within the Forum website, and culminated on October 31, 2002. The proposals submitted were added to the more than six hundred and fifty projects that have been presented to Forum organizers since 1997. In all, over a thousand proposals have been taken into consideration in developing the Forum’s program of events.

How? In concrete terms, the Forum will take shape through a series of exhibitions, dialogues (debates and conferences) and shows. The event will also encompass a range of experiences and activities, markets and actions carried out in collaboration with organizations and institutions in the city, the rest of Spain and throughout the world.

An ordered, flexible approach is being taken to the production of Forum content in order to allow for possible program modifications based on new international developments.

When? The Forum will run for 141 days in 2004. The opening ceremonies will be held on May 9, Europe Day, and the closing ceremonies on September 26, the last day of the Festival of la Mercè (the patron saint of Barcelona), an event celebrated every fall in the city.

Where? The Forum will center on the Forum site in Barcelona but related events will also be held throughout the city. The rest of the world will also be involved in the event through joint activities and those undertaken by the Virtual Forum and Media Forum.

The Forum site occupies an area of 320,000 square meters and has a capacity of 79,200 persons distributed as follows: 50,000 in the port esplanade and auditoriums, 26,000 in the Barcelona International Convention Center, and 3,200 in the Forum Building, which is being constructed by the Swiss architects Herzog and De Meuron. With 68,000 square meters of surface area, the Barcelona International Convention Center (CCIB), will be the largest convention center in the south of Europe. The main Forum space, known as “the Plaza,” will cover an area of 150,000 square meters. Once complete, it will be the second largest square in the world after Tiananmen Square in Beijing.

The Forum site covers an area of more than fifty hectares. The zone, part of which belongs to the municipality of Sant Adrià, is located near the mouth of the Besòs River, where Avinguda Diagonal meets the sea. As a result of the process of urban renovation and the construction of improved infrastructure, Barcelona will gain a new urban area—a neighborhood that will serve residential, cultural and economic purposes. Pressetext

Forum Barcelona 2004
Internationales Multikulturelles Festival
Barcelona 2004 World Forum of Cultures
Forum Universal de les Cultures 2004

Ausstellungen:
18.05.04 - 26.09.04 At War, CCCB
28.05.04 - 24.10.04 The beauty of failure / The failure of beauty, Joan Miró Foundation
25.05.04 - 26.09.04 Picasso - War and Peace, Picasso Museum
02.06.04 - 12.09.04 Art and Utopia - Restricted Action, MACBA
22.09.04 - 14.11.04 How do you want to be governed?, MACBA
14.05.04 - 29.08.04 Tour-isms - The Defeat of Dissent, Antoni Tàpies Foundation
03.06.04 - 31.10.04 Images of the body - The Museum Interpreted by Robert Wilson, Barbier-Mueller Museum of Pre-Columbian Art
26.05.04 - 29.08.04 Confucius, CaixaForum, La Caixa Foundation
u.a.