The event kicked off with a few words from Dr. Marta Crispí, the Director of the Master’s Degree Programme in Cultural Management, who encouraged the new graduates to carry on learning. She said, “Culture enriches us as individuals and as communities, and helps improve our understanding of the world”. Finally, she urged them to be enterprising in this current time of crisis, which is affecting the culture industry in particular.

Ignasi Miró, the Director of Culture at the La Caixa Foundation and the keynote speaker at the ceremony, then described his personal journey from the world of music to the world of cultural management. In doing so, he offered some reflections on today’s cultural industry. He started by pointing out that the crisis currently affecting culture is a result of our weak social foundation and the lack of interest in culture. He said, “There are a few groups who consume culture on a regular basis and a large number of people who do not and are not expected to”. With that in mind, he urged the students to take on the challenge of changing this situation.

Miró then asked the new cultural management graduates to follow what he referred to as “the school of Guardiola”, a way of working that focuses more on benefiting institutions and working together, even when it involves making personal sacrifices. The speaker also highlighted the value of humility as a basic attribute in professional careers, although he said, “In the world of culture, humility is a quality in short supply”.

Lastly, Miró reminded them, “When culture is at the service of the people, it not only benefits them, but also improves those who provide it by enriching them professionally in the most prized area: sensitivity”. The speaker went on to say, “We cannot conceive of any cultural initiative that does not comply with a threefold mission: content, mediation and the implementation of initiatives that involve people with other skill sets”.

Lastly, Dr. Teresa Vallès, the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, pointed out the importance of the humanities and said that it helps steer people on the path towards human excellence and “humanize the environment by transmitting the values that we have inherited through culture”. Similarly, she recalled the four values that the UIC attempts to teach and said, “The mission of the UIC is to contribute to the learning of people who aspire to human excellence and who, for that reason, also strive to become socially competent, committed professionals”.

The ceremony included the presentation of diplomas and speeches by the class representatives of the degree and master’s degree programme. It concluded with the singing of the traditional Gaudeamus Igitur.