Culture in the Western world may be a major economic stimulus, but it also plays a central role in education and social cohesion policies. A good example of this is provided by the Girona Festival of World and Sacred Music.
The festival is an annual summer event during which the Cathedral area is transformed into a laboratory where the arts come together with precision and quality. The musicians help to create a space where the artistic experience can and must be shared in order to update our way of perceiving and feeling the multi-faceted reality of our times.
The regard of Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor is the image presiding over the fine program of events in the 11th edition of our summer festival. The outstanding experience of concerts such as those by Rinaldo Alessandrini, Enrique Morente, Salif Keita, Anonymous 4 and Pierre Hantaï will provide many of us with arguments and reflections on the contemporary issue of living together in society.
As an observatory of distant cultures, the festival posits the importance of seeking ways of living with others in a spirit of mutual respect. The eloquent words of French anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss may guide and illustrate this outlook: "The wise man doesn't give the right answers, he poses the right questions".
Our festival certainly poses questions on values. Let it be a celebration of music and living with others!
Anna Pagans Gruartmoner
Mayoress of Girona