What we could not imagine has happened: the global spread of a microbe to which most countries have responded by confining their populations to avoid the collapse of health systems. At this point, what we do not yet know is much more and more relevant than what we already know. The virus will continue to have an enormous capacity for silent transmission, since the population likely to be immunized is very small. Consequently, until an effective medication for its multiple effects and lethal capacity and/or a globally affordable vaccine is found, the possibility of resurgence is very high.
From the outset, this biological and health crisis has also had lethal consequences for economic activity (cut-off of transport mobility, closure of companies, destruction of jobs, financial mistrust, paralysis of strategic sectors of productive activity, etc.).
These economic, financial, and labour crises lead to increased vulnerability, poverty and, ultimately, inequality. A major social crisis.
The absence of political leadership, which is uncontested by many, is generating a polarization of societies that reinforces pre-existing divisions and the fragility of democracies.
In a scenario of radical uncertainty, we are no longer facing dilemmas but real trilems: health-economy-democracy; economic growth-ecological growth-social vulnerability; trust-safety-freedom (privacy). In short, from the most basic dimension -the biological- to the artistic, cultural and moral ones, all the dimensions of human existence, of the organization of social life, of life experiences, are going to be affected, during a time that is impossible to predict with certainty.
To address all these issues, from the Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture and Sport at the Universitat de València, we are developing various projects, all aimed at promoting reflection, conversation, debate and the design of exit scenarios on a human scale and for the well-being of human beings, in a world where we should all be more aware that we are part of a single humanity.
A virus with pandemic spread capability also requires responses - scientific, health, political, cultural, social - that are global in nature. To create this awareness, we would like to cooperate through the cultural programme of the La Nau Cultural Centre of the Universitat de València.
Presentation of the exhibition project:
The coronavirus pandemic is going to cause a crisis without precedent in our most recent history that will profoundly affect all dimensions of human existence. Experts from different fields of knowledge have shared their reflections through opinion articles and interviews, generating an intense media debate about the future scenarios that this pandemic pose for humanity as a species. The Universitat de València's La Nau Cultural Centre aims to participate in this cultural debate with the exhibition project 'Coronacrisis and culture: proposals of Valencian creators' with the aim of contributing to the reflection and analysis of this exceptional period.
50 Valencian creators from the field of design and illustration will make 50 graphic proposals based on a selection of 50 texts by national and international experts, which have appeared in the media and which reflect on the crises. This is an exhibition project where the creative talent of design and illustration is put at the service of raising awareness about the challenges that we will have to face around the economic, social, political and cultural scenarios generated by the Covid-19 pandemic. 50 texts will be selected from 50 authors reflecting on the most significant aspects of the crisis(1). Each one of these texts will be given to a designer or illustrator so that, based on it, he or she can propose the creation of a work. Both the 50 authors/texts and the 50 designers and illustrators will be selected from the Office of the Vice-Principal for Culture of the Universitat de València based on their professional careers. The balanced participation of women and men as well as creators belonging to different generations will be pursued.
The following thematic blocks will be addressed from different points of view:
• Society • Values • Politics • Ecology • Technology • Economics
Project phases:
Immersion in digital culture has accelerated exponentially after this period of confinement and the forced remote working. We are beginning to understand that the omnican mentality, which seemed only to affect commerce, is something that is culturally imposed. An exhibition is planned in which the digital experience is merged with the physical one and creators are proposed to participate in two phases.
Phase 1 Online
The participating creators are invited to make video recordings in which they will present their proposals and their works with the freedom to show different phases of the project, comments on the text/author that has been awarded, as it is being resolved, it will be possible to upload sketches, proofs, discarded ideas, images or suggestive phrases... These audiovisual pills will be uploaded to the exhibition website and will be disseminated through social networks. On the other hand, this virtual gallery allows the development of animated posters in mp4 format for those designers who accept the challenge of animating their poster.
Phase 2 Offline
In a second moment, there will be a physical exhibition (offline phase), in the Acadèmia Hall of the Centre Cultural La Nau and it will take place when the state and autonomous health measures and the instructions established by the Universitat de València itself, allow the opening of the exhibition spaces and new exhibitions can be activated in the Centre Cultural La Nau (foreseeably next 29th September).
| LIST OF AUTHORS, DESIGNERS AND ILLUSTRATORS [+] | SELECTION OF TEXTS, SECTIONS AND TOPICS [+] |
(1) The 50 selected authors/texts have been published, during the declaration of the emergency state (March/June 2020), in the following media:
www.elpais.com
www.lamarea.com
www.elsaltodiario.com
www.latercera.com
www.eldiario.es
www.rt.com
www.elespanol.com
www.clarin.com
www.elconfidencial.com
www.ctxt.es
www.ethic.es
www.project-syndicate.org
www.conversacionsobrehistoria.info
www.theconversation.com
www.europapress.es
www.fundacionconama.org
www.bbc.com
www.culturainquieta.com
www.diem25.org
www.fundacionalternativas.org
