BARCELONA, CULTURAL CROSSROADS

摘要

The Barcelona Forum 2004, which has just closed its doors, turned the Catalan capital into a must-see cultural meeting point -in which UNESCO played a key part. Access to drinking water, the death of languages, reading in the digital age, conflict prevention or the conditions faced by millions of refugees: all these issues and many more featured in the debates at Barcelona. Experts from almost 200 countries joined in a cultural marathon that also included 20 exhibitions, 423 concerts - with artists ranging from Mstislav Rostropovich to Sting, Lenny Kravitz, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, Alicia Keys, BB King and Alejandro Sanz - 20 circus shows, cabaret, puppetry, street theatre and much more. All of which took place in a 30-hectare area on the banks of the Mediterranean, in the presence of heads of state, intellectuals, artists, and above all else, almost three million visitors.