By now, you know that Barcelona is full of initiatives. One of them is interesting and in some ways quite boring Biennal Ciutat i Ciencia 2023. This post is a retrospective one. The Biennal happened last month.
Firstly, I am not a science gal, but when friends invite me to join something new, I never say no. That is how I discovered this science event.
The Biennal Ciutat i Ciencia 2023
The Biennal was a 6-day event and celebrated its third edition in the city.
The Biennial’s main focus was on the scientific study of how Humans interact with the physical, social, and technological environment to bring knowledge to the general public and promote critical thinking. Cities are key, in the Biennal as this is where most people live nowadays.
The Biennal featured debates, talks, round tables, art installations, performances, concerts, walks, films and even theatre. This year, Madrid simultaneously held its own Biennal.
The boring part
Let’s start with the boring part. I went to the inaugural evening. It happened in the CCCB Teatre building, where four installations were exposed.
I only understood and found one of them interesting. Read below. I did not get and could not connect with the three other installations. But, hey, everyone is different, and something that did not speak to me does not necessarily have the same impact on you.
The interesting parts
The cocktail of the Biennal Ciutat I Ciencia 2023
During the opening ceremony on Tuesday, February 21, Josep Perelló and chef Ada Parellada talked about life based on cuisine. I like Ada Parellada for having met her during a show cooking. But I missed the talk because I arrived very late. Therefore I cannot comment on it.
Afterwards, we could enjoy a cocktail prepared by the chef and her team. It started with a parsnip (chirivia) puree, some carrots in a jar, and pani puri filled with crema catalana. We also had water flavoured with fruit and vegetables. It was tasty, and each dish had a story.
The most interesting ones were about the carrot, used entirely to prevent waste and the pani puri representing Raval, a centre of immigration and the epicentre of the Biennal, fused with some crema catalana, a traditional Catalan dessert.
Geo-Llum
An artistic installation that also serves as public and ecological lighting. Geo-Llum works thanks to a bacterium that produces electricity while decontaminating the soil. It is the winning project of one of the S+T+ARTS Repairing the Present residencies organised by the CCCB, Sónar and the UPC. This project responds to the challenge of integrating microorganisms to design more sustainable cities.
That project was so cool and fascinating. I hope that it will be widely used in the future.
Because of a lack of time, I did not explore the event further. Let’s see what is in store for next year.