Theme: MOMENTUM

MOMENTUM is that graceful state in which an “impulse” embraces everything: life, sport, work, relationships… and things seems better than they really are. It is that moment when everything you touch becomes gold. When all works out because everything is right.

Some people describe it as a “magical touch” that can be attained when you reach cruising speed in what you are doing. It is when everything fits in, all your efforts make sense and the path to follow is clear.

The word that best describes this stage in life is momentum. It is the “force” that bodies in movement achieve. It is the “energy” that moves someone or something, and the faster they move, the greater the acceleration, generating a “virtuous circle”. A virtuous circle essential for success.

And we are precisely looking for the moment in which a person notices, discovers that he or she has achieved this magical touch when everything makes sense, doubts fade away and light appears at the end of the path. We are looking for the “when”: when in the creative, research or construction process did this moment appear? We are searching for the “how”: how was it revealed? Was it a sentence, a moment in ordinary life, Archimedes’ bathtub, or an apple as in Newton’s case?

We want to hear about those ideas that could change the world through personal stories. We want to unwrap them from their creators’ personal experiences and hear about the moment when uncertainty becomes certainty, fear of failure becomes certainty of success, the instant that marks a turning point… We want to feel and experience the momentum: the Eurekas! that led to a new discovery, theory or improvement for people’s life…

Teatre Bartrina
Plaça del Teatre
Reus, Tarragona (ca), 43201
Spain

Islandia Nunca Quema

Musical group

Formed in 2010 and with origin in Reus and Tarragona, Islandia nunca quema is a band that, at first glance, maintains a canonical position with regards to music. They are not intended to invent anything, nor transgressing universal music genres like pop and rock. Elegant melodies with guitars and a rhythm section that makes a virtue of simplicity, which involve a great voice without artifice, but with personality. His songs have a classic approach, song of a shared songbook and very present in the collective history that remembers Buddy Holly, The Kinks and The Go-Betweens. A pair of singles and an LP, Applause (2014) have been enough to earn the respect and consideration of critics like Rockdelux and Ruta 66. They have played with Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens and are included in OST of La propera pell, last film Isaki Lacuesta. Islandia nunca quema are Javier Gonzalez, Salva Miranda, Carles Riba and Jordi Ximeno.

Alba Sotorra

Cinema director and producer

Alba Sotorra, born in Reus in 1980, studied cinema at the Complutense University of Madrid and in the University of Puerto Rico. She directs and produces documentaries. Her work is based on human stories that lead to reflection on subjects such as freedom, equality and identity, from a gender perspective. Her second documentary “Game over” (2015) was awarded with the Gaudí 2016 as the best documentary, and she also received the New Talent award at DocsBarcelona. She is now finishing the shooting and editing of her fourth documentary, which is about Kurdish female guerrilla in Kobané, with whom she has lived in the war front for several months.

Carlos Zahumenszky

Journalist

Carlos Zahumenszky was born in Vitoria in 1974. He studied Journalism and Marketing and Public Relations at the University of Leoia. He started his career path as an infographist for Grup Vocento and was art director in a communications agency, while also writing a weekly column on video games and technology in the newspaper El Correo. The interest in journalism prevailed over the field of design and Carlos started focusing on scientific and technological journalism. After 3 years of being the editor in the leading technological blog in Spain xataka.com, he started to develop the Spanish version of gizmodo, jointly with journalist Manuel Àngel Mendez. He currently writes about science, devices, video games, the internet, and how new technologies change our life style, often without us realizing it.

Encarna Ruiz

Design sociologist

Encarna Ruiz Molina was born in Granada in 1971 and a PhD in Journalism by the UAB and a master in Digital Art Curator (ESDI-URL), Bachelor of Journalism (UAB) and in Sociology and Political Science (University of Granada). He is currently responsible for the Knowledge Transfer Unit of the School of Design ESDi and leads the ESDiColor_Lab, Laboratory of Trends Color. She is also the Spanish representant in Intercolor member of International Association of Color. Her teaching subjects are Sociology of Design, Communication Channels, Communication Theory and Project Management at ESDi. She is also teaching in the Master of Styling and Fashion Management in ESDi and the Master of Fashion Journalism in the Faculty of Communication Blanquerna (URL). She is the author of the book La moda a la Xarxa: Anàlisi semiòtica dels blogs de moda and Dissenyadors a la Cruïlla. She has published articles in specialized journals in Semiòtics and participated in several International Conferences.

Ernest Benach

Writer and communicator. Former president of the Catalan Parliament

Ernest Benach was born in Reus in 1959 and studied Communication Sciencies in UOC University. He is now a consultant in the field of communication and journalism and is an associate professor in UOC University. He was partner and consultant in Tastic, an electronic demoscopy company and in the Social Leadership School of Catalonia. His political carreer has brought him to the Presidency of the Catalan Parliament, where he was a congressman. He also chaired the Conference of the Assemblees Legislatives Regionals Europees (CALRE), through Reus town hall. Author of two essays “Politics 2.0” and “Certain death, uncertain time”, with Miquel Pueyo, awarded with the prize Josep Vallverdú 2012. He currently collaborates regularly in several mass media. Head of the human towers group Xiquets de Reus (1990-1996) and of the Foundation Escolta Josep Carol (2010-2014). TEDxReus licensee from 2012 to 2015 and speaker at TEDx Andorra la Vella, TEDxManresa and TEDxPla de la Calma.

Frederic Ximeno

Biologist and Earth planner. Former General Director of Environmental and Sustainability Policies of Catalan Government

Frederic Ximeno, biologist and with a Master in Earth Studies, has been working in the field of environmental sciences and sustainability for over 20 years. As a consultant, his work has focused on the improvement of sustainable development, resulting in specific programs and projects in the field of territorial planning, especially in sectors such as tourism, agriculture and industry. He has been General Director of Environmental and Sustainability Policies of the Generalitat de Catalunya, from where he led the creation of the Catalan Office for Climate Change, the Catalan Institute of Climate Science and the implementation of the Plan for the Relief of Climate Change in Catalonia in 2008-2012. He participated in the conferences on climate change in Bali in 2007, Poznan 2008 and Copenhaguen 2009 as a member of the Spanish section. He participates in other international organizations such as The Climate Group and NRG4SD. He has been a consultant in the United Nations UNDP.

Irene Cordon

Egyptology

Irene Cordón i Solà-Sagalés, born in Barcelona in 1972, has a PhD in Archeology, Ancient and Medieval History by the Autonoma University of Barcelona (UAB), a post-doctorate and a master in Egyptology by the UAB and a degree in Law by the University of Barcelona (UB). Her specialization is Ancient Egypt and particularly gender studies. For her Cum Laude PhD she undertook a year-long internship in the American University in Cairo (AUC) as a researcher. She has participated in an archeologic excavation in Saqqara with a team of the UAB, financed by the Generalitat de Catalunya. She is currently a member of the Catalan Society of Egyptology, professor at the University of Múrcia (on line courses) and teaches courses and holds conferences on Egyptology, Prehistory and Ancient History in several institutions and centers, she organizes and leads cultural trips, publishes papers on Egyptology in specialized journals and magazines (National Geographic, Sàpiens, Clio Història, Fent Història)

Javier Borge

Complex systems investigator

Javier Borge-Holthoefer, born in Reus in 1976, has a PhD in Computer Sciences by the University Rovira i Virgili (URV). He currently manages the Complex Systems group that was recently created in the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute of the University UOC. Based on Interdisciplinary Physics, his current research is focused in complex social systems and urban sciences. Before joining the IN3, he completed his post-doctorate at the Institute of Biocomputing and Complex Systems Physics (BIFI) at the University of Zaragoza (2011-2013). He later moved to Qatar to work as a scientist at the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) (2014-2016). He has published over 40 pieces, including papers, chapters and a book, focused mostly on the diffusion of information in complex networks.

Joan Manuel Tresserras

Communication, Media and Culture Professor. Former minister of Culture and Mass Media of Catalan Government

Joan Manuel Tresserras, born in Rubí in 1955, has a PhD in Information Sciences and is a professor at the Communication, Media and Culture Department of the Autonoma University of Barcelona, specialized in history and communication and cultural politics. He was the director of the Department of Journalism and Communication Sciences of the Autonoma University of Barcelona (1991-1993), consultant of the Audiovisual Board of Catalonia (2000-2006), and member of the Committee for the Mixed Transferences State-Generalitat (2004-2006). From 2006 to 2010 he was the Minister of Culture and Mass Media of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Pere Forés

Submarine builder

ICTINEU 3 is a tale of love for the sea by its inventors and developers: Pere Forés and Carme Parareda. Pere Forés is a sea man. Pere designed and built his first submarine when he was 11 years old, and, as it couldn’t have been otherwise, he studied Industrial Design and Naval Design and is specialized in construction materials and processes. In 2004 he founded the Ictineu Institute, Catalan Center for Submarine Research that wants to promote the field of submarine technology in the country. After 10 years and a 2.5 million euros investment, ICTINEU 3 has come true. It is a 5x2 meters submarine that can carry 3 people and that can reach a maximum depth of 2000 meters. It is used for scientific submarine tasks. During its development, they have registered 3 patents that are very useful in the industry, including high resistance and duration batteries.

Pilar Rahola

Writer and journalist

Pilar Rahola was born in Barcelona in 1958 and studied Catalan and Hispanic Philology in the University of Barcelona. In her professional carreer she has been involved in different fields. She started her carreer as the director of the publishing house Pòrtic (1987-1990), then moved on into politics, always in parties supporting the independence of Catalonia. She has covered the news on many wars, among others the Balcans war, the Fall of the Berlin War, and she has participated in many TV programs of TV3, 8TV and Telecinco. She also collaborates in radio broadcasts and has written several books, including the biography of Artur Mas. She has taught on seminars and held conferences in many South American and North American Universities. She is a tough upholder of women’s rights and catalan nationalism and holds a strong opinion on the Arabic-israelian conflict, and has been awarded several times.

Rai Puig

Kayak instructor and adventurer

Rai Puig, born in Tarragona in 1985, holds a degree in Sports Sciences, a diploma as Kayak instructor level 2 by the Spanish Kayaking Federation and is a 4 Stars Sea Kayak Guide by the British Canoe Union, among other titles. He works exclusively as a sea kayak instructor in different companies and schools and has led expeditions through the Argentinian Patagonia glaciers. Being a kayak lover, one of his great passions are expeditions throughout the world, with several journeys: Baja California (Mexico), New Zealand, Wales, the Basque Country, Greenland… His greatest expedition was solo travelling the Inside Passage (Alaska) throughout its 2300k in 90 days from Vancouver, documented in “Paddling to Alaska”, a documentary that has received the award for the best film in Tarragona in the festival FIC-CAT.

Xavi Ciurans

Music

Gertrudis is one of the greatest exponents of the rumba in Catalonia and the anniversary tour they did last year to celebrate 15 years of the group was not enough: they need a new project that certainly shows his musical maturity as reggae, cumbia and obviously Catalan rumba. “Ara volo alt” is sung to love and heartbreak, happiness and festival, but there is place for social criticism, highlighting the tragedy of the life of a refugee ( “Amic del sud”) and claiming a land twinned rage as Galician, a people who have lived closely oppression (‘ Rua da Raiña ‘, in collaboration with Gabri de Dakidarria).