Hay Festival Segovia 2022

From Horace to Lucretius, the classics have taught us that our relationship with Nature wholly determines the meaning and destiny of humankind. Emilio del Río, the great champion of Latin, has published books such as Latin lovers, Calamares a la Romana or Locos por los Clásicos. He holds, among many other distinctions, the National Prize of the Spanish Society of Classical Studies. He is also Director General of Madrid City Council Libraries, Archives and Museums.

He will be joined in an extraordinary natural setting by the journalist Elsa González and the journalist and writer Carlos Aganzo. Elsa González is member of the Board of Directors of Telemadrid and of the board of the Federation of Women Managers and Professionals (FEDEPE) and jury member of the Prince of Asturias Awards for Communication and Humanities. She was the President of the Federation of Associations of Journalists of Spain from April 2010 to April 2018. Aganzo, former director of El Norte de Castilla, is deputy director of the Vocento Foundation and author of numerous books of poems. His latest publication is a homage to Las ciudades de Machado (Machado’s cities).

Event in Spanish

A herd of 400 Castilian sheep belonging to local shepherd Mr. Rafael Montes will be walked by Daudy and Novoselov to the area beneath the historic Roman aquaduct in Segovia, in a participatory performance proving the perfection of Einstein’s Unification Theory.

Grand Unified Theory (GUT) is a model in particle physics in which, at high energies, the three gauge interactions of the Standard Model comprising the electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces are merged into a single force.

The sheep, each inscribed with SÍ or NO (YES or NO), will form random groups and arrangements, proving perfectly to us the possibility of individuals living peacefully together, however disparate their point of view.

The paint used to write the words on the sheep's coat is ecological and completely harmless to the animal.

A flock of sheep painted with numbers at Daudy and Novoselov’s recent WONDERCHAOS exhibition at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK caused a stir in the worlds of mathematics, science and engineering, by creating more random numbers in a month than there are atoms in this universe. As the sheep passed each other, thousands of different number combinations were created, forming in effect a living random number generator. A film by Daudy and directed by Gautier Deblonde illustrating this phenomenon, entitled ALTERNATIVE RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR: THE SHEEP OF MR. CHARLES PLATTS (2021), will also be premiered at the festival.

This summer's heat waves, water scarcity, fires, have put the effects of climate change at the center of the debate more than ever. Meteorological phenomena and interventions on nature are causing alert about our future and that of the planet. Butterflies are disappearing. The deterioration of their habitats due to the use of pesticides, industrial fertilizers and monoculture farming has meant that the numbers of these insects have dropped by 80% in the last fifty years, and the threat of their disappearance is becoming ever more real. The problem goes far beyond the sad loss of some wonderful insects: this is an ecological catastrophe. The renowned evolutionary biologist and ecologist Josef H. Reichholf, winner of the Sigmund Freud Award for Scientific Literature, has been studying lepidopterans for years, and is the author of The Disappearance of Butterflies, a fascinating work of non-fiction about these insects and a cry for help in the face of the disaster of their decline. For his part, Joaquin Araujo, naturalist, author, screenwriter and series director, who stands out among many for having been the first Spaniard to be awarded the UN Global 500 and the Wilderness Writing Award and for being the only Spaniard to be awarded twice the National Prize for the Environment, makes us aware of the biological and poetic importance of water, through his latest book “Somos agua que piensa” "We are water that thinks".

Both will converse with Isabela del Alcázar, Global Head of Sustainability at the IE University. As one example projects under her office: The Nurture Hub, a project founded by two students of the School of Architecture and Design and their mentor to create a space for relax for the students, enhance the biodiversity, raise awareness and attract indigenous pollinators, such as butterflies.

Once the event has finished, the authors will sign books in the booth outside IE University.

Simultaneous translation from German to Spanish and vice versa

The House of Hungarian Music, a landmark centre dedicated to music in Budapest's City Park and one of Sou Fujimoto's latest works, opened its doors to the public in January. Martha Thorne, Dean of IE University's School of Architecture, prominent urban planner and former Executive Director of the Pritzker Prize, will welcome one of Japan's most famous award-winning architects to Hay Festival Segovia. Fujimoto has received important awards in his field, and is known for projects as outstanding as the Serpentine Gallery the Pavilion in Kensington Gardens or the Final Wooden House in Kunamoto, Japan. The architect, who perceives his projects as an understanding of the relationship between architecture, nature and the human body, will discuss his work with Martha Thorne. They will also explore their shared passion for design, creativity and the cultural heritage of architecture.

Event in English with simultaneous translation into Spanish.

Twenty years ago, Clemens Schlettwein, an investor and philanthropist specialising in environmental conservation projects, and Gemma Knowles, a holistic animal therapist and dog nutritionist, author of several books on animal welfare, started their life project together, running a shelter for dogs and cats in El Garraf (Barcelona). Project and life partners, they have launched various enterprises related, for instance, to permaculture with horses or the development of a solar car. They will talk about all this with William Mut, an expert consultant in policies and promotion of productive investment, who has worked with numerous multilateral institutions including the World Bank, the United Nations, COMESA and the EU.

Event in Spanish

The Munch in Oslo is one of those new pieces of architecture that are establishing Oslo's image as a capital of sustainable, egalitarian and civilised modernity. It is the latest work by Spanish architect Juan Herreros, whose career includes other art-related creations. The verticality of the museum is one of its most outstanding features. "A disruptive idea, like hanging paintings along a spiral ramp," say the studio's directors, referring to Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim in New York. This Hay Festival, Herreros will speak about architecture, design, sustainability and interaction with the environment, as the dynamic nature of this centre allows visitors to discover both Munch's work and Oslo; the scale of the city further revealed the higher you go.

He will talk with Martin Braathen, architect and Senior Curator of Architecture at the National Museum, Oslo, M.Arch in Architecture, PhD in Architecture history (2019), formerly editor of journal Arkitektnytt, and acting director of Oslo Architecture Triennale. Braathen has many years of experience as freelance architecture critic and writer, curator.

The event will be presented by Edgar Gonzalez, Associate Dean at IE School of Architecture and Design.

Picture: Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design

Event in English and Spanish with simultaneous translation into Spanish and English.

Tiago Pitta e Cunha is one of the most significant international personalities on issues related to the oceans and the changes that need to happen in our attitude towards them. He has worked for over two decades to put maritime issues on political and institutional agendas. He has coordinated the European Union’s Integrated Maritime Policy at the office of the European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and has represented Portugal and the EU at the UN in various international bodies dedicated to all matters related to the sea. Also director of the Oceano Azul Foundation, in 2021 he received the Pessoa Prize, awarded annually to Portuguese nationals who have distinguished themselves as outstanding figures in scientific, artistic or literary life. He will talk with Jesus Calero, director of ABC Cultural, who researches oceans and their shipwrecks,

They will discuss the need to care for the oceans with journalist and poet Carlos Aganzo.

With simultaneous translation from Portuguese to Spanish and vice versa.

Santiago Beruete, writer and philosopher, author of Verdolatria, Aprendivoros and Jardinosofia, and Alejandro Quecedo del Val, young eco-social activist and author of the essay Gritar lo que está callado, will explore ways out of the Ecosocial Crisis produced by the Anthropocene: ecological, social and cultural transitions necessary to put an end to this state of war with the planet.

Moderated by Beatriz González, director of De Conatus publishing house

Event in Spanish

Signing at the stand of Calle Real