42, a fantastic opportunity

The numbers for 42, a festival that has one for its name, speak for themselves: 3 spaces, 5 days, 74 activities, 212 guests... We do not have the attendance figures yet but, as this is the first edition, is already a real milestone, one born in difficult times, times shaped by a pandemic that has triggered massive interest in science fiction. However, the figures here are of secondary importance. Because this is a festival where there are names, readings, dreams and ideas. And because what really matters about Barcelona’s new Fantasy Genres Festival is not a statistic, but the opportunity that it represents.

Firstly, in terms of showcasing genres that are now growing fast, but that have always found refuge and support in our city. Joan Perucho, Manuel de Pedrolo, Albert Sánchez Piñol and Marc Pastor, but also Paco Porrúa, Ana María Matute, Carlos Ruiz Zafón or those responsible for the boom in magical realism are just some of the key names in non-realistic fiction with clear links to Barcelona. A city with bookshops, publishing houses, academics and specialised media that are at the heart of the new impulse here to science fiction, fantasy, revisiting myths and legends, and all those creative fields that go beyond the imitation of reality.

Secondly, we are clearly living at a time of constantly shifting realities during which reading works in the genre can be enormously helpful to us all. Topics such as the climate emergency, cultural integration, technological growth, social and political transformation, the redefining of the affections brought about by feminism and the LGBTQ movement, and the powerful impact of growing numbers of robots, artificial intelligences and virtual realities touch all of us, and as many of the guests at Festival 42 demonstrate, these are today at the forefront in terms of content, proposals and approaches, including artistic ones, to these issues.

Among the other opportunities offered by 42, a festival that wants to raise more and better questions in tribute to Douglas Adams, there is above all one that we definitely do not want to slip by. The fantasy genres, basic essentials of audiovisuals and video games, have become a natural way of creatively rethinking the world for the new generations. Perhaps we can learn, and expand that vision through books with the aim of sharing codes and registers that allow us to join in a generational change that is less globalised, more constructive and has more local roots.

Perhaps in this way, as will be suggested in some of the sessions during this first edition of the festival, we will be able to come up with alternatives to the dystopian times that have witnessed the birth of this event. Perhaps, when all is said and done, we will be able to imagine better worlds and future worlds.

Welcome to Festival 42.

Jordi Martí,

deputy Mayor of Culture, Education, Science and Community