Invitations from 23 September, to be downloaded here.
LUIS M. MARTÍNEZ
The illusionist's brain is (not) a joke
Free entry until full capacity. In Collaboration with NAUKAS (from 12.10 to 12.30h) Pardon me for starting with such a bad joke. However, more than a hundred years ago, Bergson, the influential French philosopher, said that every joke is a...
19:00
Bizkaia Aretoa · Sala Axular
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JAVIER OLIVARES
Guided tour: Pertierra Enigma
It almost seems like magic how the idea for this exhibition came about. Nevertheless, it makes perfect sense that the first major retrospective of Joaquín Pertierra, an illustrator of international prestige who was presumably born in Bilbao in 1919, should...
JORGE BLASS
In conversation with MAITE ESPARZA
It would be unthinkable to hold this year's festival devoted to magic without a great magician. And a truly great one at that, such as Jorge Blass, whose early talent and well-known trajectory have captivated audiences worldwide and fellow magicians...
MANUEL JABOIS & MILENA BUSQUETS | AZUL TEJERINA
The magic of seduction
Seduction is a form of behavioural art. It does not always aim for an erotic conquest but for the effective radiance of a personal charm. One can seduce by cooking, on stage, with an elegant style, by making people laugh,...
ENRIQUE VILA-MATAS
In conversation with DANIEL GASCÓN
We have been looking forward to Enrique Vila-Matas attending Ja! for a long time. If there is anything that distinguishes the prestigious author, beyond his fascinating metaliterary games and portraits of writers who are writers even though they do not...
GUSTAVO MARTÍN GARZO & AIXA DE LA CRUZ
Witches, sorceresses & magicians
Those women of not-so-remote times who had the knowledge of natural remedies were usually healers and physicians. Religious obscurantism, however, considered them witches, in a carnal alliance with the devil, and burned them to death. We have invited Gustavo Martín...
OLGA TOKARCZUK
In conversation with JESÚS GARCÍA CALERO
Olga Tokarczuk is a remarkable writer. We are delighted to feature the 2018 Nobel Laureate in Literature for the first time in the Ja! Festival. Her narrative power is absorbingly effective: both from the magical, fantastic perspective of 'Primeval and...
RAQUEL SASTRE & IMANOL ITUIÑO | JUAN BAS & LOLA BARROSO
The magician Méliès
George Méliès (1861-1938) discovered that the emerging art of cinematography was a means of shaping his fertile imagination. He created an exuberant world of dreamlike images and fantastic actions, which he filmed on elaborate sets. This event will feature the...
19:30
Bizkaia Aretoa · Mitxelena Auditorium
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PABLO D’ORS & ANDRÉS IBÁÑEZ
Magic or miracle
What do we call an extraordinary and marvellous event that contradicts natural laws? Magic? Miracle? What is the difference between the two? Which one is more frequent in literature? Does Pablo d'Ors, novelist and priest, know more about miracles than...
19:00
Bizkaia Aretoa · Mitxelena Auditorium
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MENCHU GUTIÉRREZ & JAVIER MONTES
Leonora Carrington: Laughter on the Roof
Leonora Carrington's artistic and literary oeuvre combines imagination, magic and a sense of humour that probably saved her from the madness to which she seemed destined. As familiar to surrealist milieus as she was reluctant to act as a muse...
20:30
Bizkaia Aretoa · Mitxelena Auditorium
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PILAR ADÓN
In conversation with CAROLINA ONTIVERO
Pilar Adón belongs to the literary lineage of Iris Murdoch and Patrick Modiano, authors who, always aspiring to write the "same book", build genuine and unmistakable literary landscapes in an increasingly refined and perfect way. In 'De bestias y aves',...
19:00
Bizkaia Aretoa · Mitxelena Auditorium
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MARTA SANZ & JUAN ARNAU
Do AI dream of having an imagination?
After the controversial issue concerning the limits of humour, came that of the limits of artificial intelligence. The astrophysicist and philosopher Juan Arnau and the writer Marta Sanz, whose latest novel, 'Persianas metálicas bajan de golpe', features drones that are...
20:30
Bizkaia Aretoa · Mitxelena Auditorium
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JOHN BANVILLE
In conversation with MARÍA FASCE
John Banville (Benjamin Black cuando escribe novela negra) es autor de una vasta obra literaria. Sus novelas han sido reconocidas como expresión de la excelencia. Y es también un prestidigitador del humor mediante comparaciones metafóricas de originalidad deslumbrante y personajes...
12:00
Bizkaia Aretoa · Mitxelena Auditorium
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TOR MAGOA
Magic show: Argi eta garbi
In an edition devoted to magic, you can't miss a show that performs a live representation of it. Tor the magician will carry out this. He will be a master of ceremonies on a show for all audiences, full of...
19:00
Bizkaia Aretoa · Mitxelena Auditorium
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ERNESTO SEVILLA’S 10 FAVORITE HUMOR SEQUENCES
In conversation with JUAN BAS
Here we have the new edition of this permanent festival section, in which a guest chooses his or her ten favourite comedy sequences and discusses them with Juan Bas as they are being screened. A revamped Sunday afternoon film session...
