The course will be held over two days in the Palacio de la Magdalena in Santander

Santander hosts the 'International Seminar: Public Diplomacy and Cultural Cities: Shared Experiences'

photo_camera 'International Seminar: Public Diplomacy and Cultural Cities: Shared Experiences'

Santander City Council, through the Department of Culture, has organised the first day of the 'International Seminar: Public Diplomacy and Cultural Cities: Shared Experiences' on Thursday 22 October. The course will take place over two days in the Palacio de la Magdalena in Santander and will be divided into a series of lectures and round tables. These include both speakers and content, structured around three themes: 

  • The presence of different countries represented by their Embassies to share their experiences in the implementation of cultural city projects and their international promotion.
  • The presence of representatives from local and private institutions that participate in Santander's cultural project.
  • The debate between cultural managers and journalists specialised in the international reality and intercultural relations. 

The first day of the seminar was opened by Gema Igual, Mayor of Santander, and Yuri Korchagin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Spain, and was directed by Santiago Velo, Director of the Academy of Diplomacy, and José María Peredo Pombo, Professor of Communication and International Policy at the European University of Madrid. 

After the opening, the round table 'Culture, a shared experience' was held, presented by the Councillor for Culture, Javier Ceruti, and attended by Sergey Sarimov, Director of the Russian Science and Culture Centre, José María Luna Aguilar, Director of the collection of the Russian Museum, the Pompidou Centre and the Casa Picasso, and Iñigo Sáenz de Miera, Director General of the Botín Foundation.

'International Seminar: Public Diplomacy and Cultural Cities: Shared Experiences'

Later, another round table was set up, 'The city, a cultural experience', presented by the Director General of Culture of Santander City Council, Enrique Bolado, and with the participation of Jesús Ruiz Mantilla, a journalist from El País, José María Peredo himself, Professor of Communication and International Policy at the European University of Madrid, and Juan Antonio González Fuentes, poet and director of the Lafuente Archive.

The initial day was completed at the Botín Centre with the programming of the exhibition 'The Russian Heritage' and the musical performance by the Russian pianist Andrey Yaroshinsky, professor at the Reina Sofía School of Music. Yaroshinsky, born in Kiev (Ukraine), has won several international competitions, including the Competition in Athens, Prague, Warsaw, Valencia, Salzburg, as well as the Santander Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition (2008). Among his merits are the Rostropovich Foundation scholarship and being, since 2009, the official artist of the Steinway brand. He has played with numerous orchestras and has given a large number of master classes in Russia, Ukraine and other European countries. Since 2014 he has been Professor of Superior Piano at Katarina Gurska Centro Superior in Madrid, and in 2015 he was appointed President of the Association of Young Musicians of Russia.

'International Seminar: Public Diplomacy and Cultural Cities: Shared Experiences'

The second day of the seminar will take place on 30 October, with the presence of the magazine Atalayar entre dos orillas and its director Javier Fernández Arribas and Majid al-Suwaidi, the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates in Spain. Spanish and Emirati cultural and communication representatives will discuss the collaboration and cultural projection of both countries.

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