Early years

Between 23 June and 4 July 2003, Maria del Mar Bonet, the Nats Nus dance company, the artist Eulàlia Valldosera, the pianist Albert Atenelle, and the exhibition Gaudí, un univers acted as ambassadors of Catalan culture in Russia. where Gaudí was the focus of a seminar. A year later, in 2004, the IRL played a key role in the most important book fair in Latin America. Between 27 November and 5 December 2004, the IRL was guest of honor at the Feria del Libro de Guadalajara, which featured more than 100 events, including, notably, a retrospective of the work of Antoni Tàpies in the Museo de Arte de Zapopán.

In 2005, the IRL organized Veles e vents. Cultura Catalana a Nàpols, an exhibition on The Divine Comedy as interpreted by Miquel Barceló and held in the Castel Nuovo, during October. It was also the setting for concerts by Carles Santos and Raimon, as well as performances by'Àngels Margarit, Roger Bernat and Pep Tosar.

In 2006, in New York the IRL organised a series of cultural events, including an exhibition by the photographer Joan Fontcuberta, a season of films by Isabel Coixet and Marc Recha, with the critic Romà Gubern, and a poetry symposium involving various poets and the critic Harold Bloom.

Frankfurt Book Fair

Stand at the Frankfurt fair in 2012

A milestone in the Institute's history was getting Catalan culture to be the guest of honour at the 2007 Frankfurt Book Fair. It was attended by 118 writers, 237 organisations and 5,719 people linked to the Catalan cultural scene; 95 events were held and 53 literary works were translated from Catalan into German. Highlights among the events included the adaptation of Tirant lo Blanc directed by Calixto Bieito, the Dance: meeting Catalan Culture cycle, the exhibitions Cultura Catalana, Singular i Universal and VisualKultur.cat, the Dies de l'Òpera Catalana (Catalan Opera Days) and Sónar Nits. All this was run in collaboration with the government of Andorra and the Spanish Cervantes Institute.

A year later, in 2008, the Institute was present at the Festival Internacional Cervantino, in Guanajuato, Mexico. The Catalan and Balearic presence featured Joan Manuel Serrat, Jordi Savall, Hespèrion XXI and the Capella Reial de Catalunya (performing together with Tembembé Ensemble Continuo), an exhibition of the work of Agustí Centelles and the "Dansa de la Mort" of Verges. Catalan Days was also repeated in New York, with jazz, theatre and dance performance, a cinema cycle entitled Clandestí, forbidden Catalan Cinema under Franco and, as part of the PEN World Voices Festival, a homage to Blai Bonet.

Catalonia Pavilion at the 2014 Venice Biennale

In 2009 it took part in the Venice Biennale for the first time. As part of the Eventi Collateralli, the 53rd Biennale included a Catalan pavilion, with the exhibition La comunitat inconfessable curate by Valentín Roma, which was visited by 45,633 people. Several events were held alongside this, including the academic symposium Les ciutats inconfessables.

2010–2015

Between 3 and 6 February 2010, under the slogan, Le Catalan, la langue de 10 millions d'Européens, the Institut Ramon Llull took Catalan culture to the heart of the French capital in an exhibition dedicated to languages and teaching that received 22,7863 visitors and had 200 exhibitors from 30 countries. The IRL's participation was the result of the combined efforts of Catalan, Balearic and Valencian institutions and organisations. A year later, Catalan culture arrived in London with the exhibition Joan Miró: The Ladder of Escape at the Tate Modern as the highlight. It was accompanied by performance from Tap Olé, Nats Nus Dansa, Sol Picó, concerts by the Carles Benavent Quintet, the Miguel Gómez Quartet, Colia Miralta Sambeat, the Biel Ballester Trio, Mishima, and Les Aus i Aias, among other events. The IRL also managed to have a presence at the World Puppet Theatre Festival in Charleville.

Fira de Frankfurt 2015

In 2012 a tour was organised, named Catalan Sounds on Tour, which visited Canada, Texas, Mexico and the United Kingdom – an initiative hosted at the Canadian Music Week (Toronto), at South by South West (Austin), at The Great Escape (Brighton) and at Vive Latino (Mexico City), joined by groups such as Manel, Seward, Mujeres, Ninette & The Goldfish, Els Amics del Bosc, Ferguson or Petit, among others. That same year, Avignon à la Catalane was celebrated, with eight theatre companies from Catalonia and the Balearic Islands in attendance at Avignon's OFF Theatre Festival, one of the most important in the world. The companies Pelmànec, EIA, Pere Faura, Alba Sarraute, Los Excéntricos, Cor de théatre, Katraska i Mariantònia Oliver performed in various spaces throughout the city. Furthermore, there began to be a Catalan presence at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. For the first time, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands enjoyed their own pavilion in this event which was connected with the Art Biennale. Between 29 August and 25 November, within the scope of Eventi Collateralli (peripheral events), it was also possible to visit the project Vogadors (Rowers), commissioned by Jordi Badia and Félix Arranz.

Among the projects initiated by the IRL in 2013, one which stood out the most was the participation of Barcelona as a city invited to the Paris Book Fair, with the participation of more than twenty authors who presented recent translations into French; in the field of visual arts, of particular note was the participation of the IRL, with their own pavilion, at the Venice Biennale of Art with a projected named 25% by Francesc Torres and Mercedes Alvarez and commissioned by Jordi Balló. Others were the focus on Catalan at the Festival of Contemporary Music in Huddersfield, one of Europe's most prestigious, complete with the figure of Hèctor Parra as resident composer, and also the fact that the Catalan culture was the guest of honour at Salisbury International Arts Festival, with the attendance of fifteen theatre companies and music groups.^[5]

The main projects in 2014 were the Arquitectures empeltades / Grafting Architecture. Catalonia at Venice exhibition in the Venice Biennale of Architecture; the participation of Barcelona in the Beijing Design Week (BJDW); the multidisciplinary programme of Barcelona as a guest in the Stockholm Kulturfestival (the two last projects, in collaboration with the Barcelona city council); Voices from Catalonia, the focus of Catalan literature in the Gothenburg Book Fair (Sweden); and the remarkable collection of translations of works originally written in Catalan to other languages.

In 2015, because of the regional elections in May, the new Balearic government requested its reincorporation into the governing bodies of the IRL. Regarding the internationalisation of the Catalan literature, a good level of translations was maintained with 134 publications and a focus on Catalan was celebrated in the International Festival of Authors in Toronto. As far as creation is concerned, Catalonia's fourth consecutive participation in the Venice Biennale of Architecture with the project La singularitat, by Albert Serra and commissioned by Chus Martínez, was remarkable. The participations of Catalan groups and companies have also had a special relevance in the New York City Summerstage Festival or at the Avignon le Off Festival with the project Avignon à la catalane, as well as the presence of our design in the Business of Design Week in Hong Kong with the Barcelona city council. Catalan teaching also started in the University of São Paulo (Brazil) and in the Beijing Foreign Studies University. This rounded the number of universities in the University Network of Catalan Studies Abroad to 150.

In 2017 it took part of the Venice Biennale of Architecture with Aftermath_Catalonia in Venice. Architecture beyond architects, commissioned by Jaume Prat, Jelena Proklopevic with a project by the director Isaki Lacuesta, the participation of the Catalan literature as a special guest in the Warsaw Book Fair, the organisation of the international activities for the 700th anniversary of Llull's death and the celebration of the 30th International Symposium for Catalan teachers abroad in the Rovira i Virgili University.

The Catalan-Balearic presence was a highlight in 2017 as a guest of honour in the Bologna Children Book Fair, the participation of the Momix Festival for children drama (Kingersheim-Alsace), with a programme including Catalan and Balearic companies. Another great Project for 2017 was the participation of Barcelona as a guest in the Buenos Aires Biennale of Architecture, in collaboration with the Barcelona City Council once again, and a plan for artistic residencies.

Participating institutions