The Sorbonne University of Paris joins the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the cellist Pau Casals with a day of tribute that will take place on May 21 and that will include a lecture by Laurence Cuny, a lawyer specializing in human rights and a researcher in cultural rights and artistic freedom, and a concert at the emblematic Amphithéâtre Richelieu of the Sorbonne. The event is organized by the Center for Catalan Studies (CEC) of the Sorbonne University and the Delegation of the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia in France, with the collaboration of the Ramon Llull Institute, the Association for the Promotion of Catalan Culture in Paris (APCCP) and the Pau Casals Foundation.
Pau Casals not only was he one of the most important musical figures of the 20th century, but he also stood out for his anti-fascism and pacifism. As an exile, he denounced Franco’s political persecution of the Catalan language and culture at the headquarters of the United Nations when he received the medal from this institution in 1971. This aspect will be the protagonist of Laurence Cuny’s conference, which is entitled “Pau Casals as a defender of cultural rights: a reflection on the position of the artist in international law”.
Cuny has collaborated with the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations in the field of cultural rights, is a member of the UNESCO Chair on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions of the Faculty of Law of the Laval University, in Quebec (Canada), an associate member of the Observatory of Diversity and Cultural Rights of the University of Friborg (Switzerland), and a member of the UNESCO expert group on the 2005 Convention on the Diversity of Expressions cultural
The conference will take place in the Salle des actes of Sorbonne Université at 3.30 pm, and will be followed by a cocktail offered by the Delegation of the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia in France. At 7 p.m., in the historic Amphithéâtre Richelieu, there will be a cello and piano concert performed by Gabriel Guignier (awarded equally with the AENA Special Prize of the Pau Casals International Award for Young Cellists 2024) and Kanae Endo. Entry is free with prior registration.
An exhibition by Ràfols-Casamada, in the current programming of the CEC
Since last April, the CEC has been running the quarterly schedule, which will end in June. Among the proposed activities is the exhibition by Albert Ràfols-Casamada, which is entitled “Color is the visual epidermis of the workSo far, the CEC has hosted, among others, a conference by the art historian Judith Urbano Lorente on Antoni Gaudí, another on the “Sixena Litigation” by the lawyer Xavier Muñoz Puiggròs, as well as a meeting with the writer Maria Climent.
in addition to thetribute to Pau Casalsthe end-of-year program of the CEC includes a conference entitled “Against Franco and the Falange. The clandestine resistances in the Balearic Islands (1939-1948)”, by David Ginard, of the University of the Balearic Islands, or another by Georgina Torra Guixeras, of the University of Girona, with the title “I would like to make poems that made the impression of Klee. The influence of the plastic arts on the poetry of Joan Vinyoli”.
