The 'Moments estel·lars' cycle returns from vacation with Maite Esteve and Joan Oliveras

A new course begins and the cycle The New Barcelona - Moments Estel·lars returns, organized by The New Barcelona Post and presented by journalist and UPF-BSM professor Toni Aira. The protagonists of the fourth session will be the director of the Fundació Catalunya Cultura, Maite Esteve, and the president of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, Joan Oliveras. Public-private collaboration as a driving force for dynamism for culture and the city itself will be the topic to be debated next Monday, September 5. The great cultural entities and patrons who have built part of the city's brand will be analyzed by Esteve and Oliveras, who will try to outline the most appropriate lines of action to boost a sector that has accumulated crises.

In collaboration with Must Media Group, CASA SEAT and Barcelona Global, the conversation will take place at 6:30 p.m. in the CASA SEAT auditorium. To attend as an audience and also be able to ask questions to the speakers, it is necessary to reserve a place in advance starting this Tuesday. To get your ticket, click here.

The theme of the new session could not be more opportune, especially considering the city we are in. Everyone knows that Barcelona cannot be explained without the brilliant figure of Antoni Gaudí. The symbols that represent the Catalan capital and have made it world-renowned, even if one of them is a half-finished basilica, would not be understood without the fruitful relationship that the architect developed with the patron, industrialist, and politician Eusebi Güell. The Palau Güell, the work that gave rise to this collaboration, Parc Güell, Colonia Güell, or the Güell Pavilions are part of an extraordinary list that has changed the orography of the city and enriched it.

Maite Esteve will speak with knowledge of the facts about the collaboration between companies and cultural agents, taking into account the objectives of the Fundació Catalunya Cultura. Created in 2014, after the impact of the last economic crisis and the cuts applied in the world of culture, the foundation was born with the aim of mobilizing entrepreneurs to promote culture and provide the sector with tools to guarantee its sustainability, hit again by the health crisis. Esteve has directed the foundation since 2018 and pursues challenges such as a patronage law comparable to that of other European countries, an increase in public investment, and the creation of an investment fund for cultural projects. Companies such as Banco Sabadell, Damm, Moventia, Gramona, Fluidra, Planeta, HP and the Institut Català de Finances (ICF) are some of the members of the foundation's executive committee.

Esteve studied Law at the University of Barcelona (UB) and at the University of Gothenburg. She began her professional career in 2000 as head of legal services at the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation. Six years later, she decided to complement her training with a specialization in Management and Administration of Associations and Foundations at the University of Girona (UdG). Between 2010 and 2016, she was the project manager for the Princess of Girona Foundation. She has also been responsible for the Ateneu Cooperatiu Terres Gironines. For two years, she has been a trustee of the Amics del Museu Nacional foundation.

For his part, Joan Oliveras will contribute his point of view as president of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. He was chosen in January 2021, replacing Miquel Roca i Junyent, who had held the position for nine years. "It is impossible to think of the cities of the future without public-private collaboration. And public-private collaboration does not happen by decree. It happens by way of what the word itself says: collaboration. Therefore, everyone has to win, otherwise, there is no possible collaboration. Things are not resolved by imposing models. And models cannot be only the product of a majority municipal minority. It must be the product of great consensuses," he reflected in an interview with The New Barcelona Post about one of the topics that will be discussed at CASA SEAT.

President of Bagués-Masriera Joiers, Oliveras has been vice-president of the Fundació Museu Picasso de Barcelona (2013-2020); member of the Fundació de l'Orfeó Català-Palau de la Música Catalana (2011-2014) and academician of the Reial Acadèmia de les Belles Arts de Sant Jordi, among others. As a jeweler-artisan, he has been founder and president of the Col·legi Oficial de Joiers, orfebres, rellotgers i gemmòlegs de Catalunya and of the Federació Catalana de Joiers, Orfebres i Rellotgers (1998-2002). He has also presided over the Barnajoya and Novajoia salons, of which he was a founder.

The conversation with Joan Oliveras and Maite Esteve will be the fourth chapter of the podcast The New Barcelona - Moments Estel·lars, a series of monthly interviews with prominent protagonists and witnesses to vindicate and understand the keys to the moments of glory the city has experienced, and not only focusing on the past, but bringing to the present those learnings and success factors to guarantee an even better future. So far, Juan Antonio Samaranch, the publicist Lluís Bassat and the president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, have already participated in the cycle. The sessions can be recovered on Spotify and on the main podcast platforms, and can also be viewed on the YouTube channel of The New Barcelona Post.

The first podcast of The New Barcelona Post emphasizes the values associated with the Barcelona brand and successful episodes or stages in the city's recent history. The celebration of the Barcelona'92 Olympic Games, whose 30th anniversary is celebrated this year; the literary boom driven by agent Carmen Balcells; the Barcelona of design and artistic creation; Barça's first Champions League; Barcelona's leadership in the high gastronomy sector thanks to stars like Ferran Adrià; international lyrical references like Montserrat Caballé and Josep Carreras; the explosion of freedom in the 70s associated with counterculture and the underground; or, more recently, the consolidation of the powerful entrepreneurial ecosystem and the appearance of the city's first technological unicorns are some examples of the topics that will star in the cycle of dialogues that began on May 16.