Mercè Sampietro is a film, theater, television and dubbing actress. Linked since the late sixties to the world of acting, she is one of the most outstanding actresses of her generation. Mercè Sampietro began her career in amateur theater and was trained as an actress at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona, where she was part of the experimental theater group Cátaro, created in the late sixties. Her professional theatrical debut was in 1970 with Ana Diosdado's play Olvida los tambores. Since then, she has participated in numerous theatrical productions and in more than fifty feature films and television series. She was the president of the Spanish Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (2003-2006). Throughout her career she has received important film and theater awards, including the Best Female Performance Award at the San Sebastian International Film Festival on two occasions, for Extramuros and for Lugares comunes; also the Goya Award for Best Leading Female Performance in a Leading Role for this latter film. In 2017 she won the Honorary Award to the Catalan Film Academy.
Multi-instrumentalist Eduard Iniesta is one of the most talented figures in the composition and performance of music in Catalonia. He specializes in double-chord string instruments and is considered a reference in Mediterranean music. He has had a successful career as an interpreter and composer; his music mixes different styles, such as folk, rock, blues, classical music and world music.
Mercedes Palomino (1913 – 2006) was an actor and theatre director, born in Barcelona, and naturalized Canadian in 1953.
Mercedes Palomino moved to Argentina with her family at the age of five. She studied at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts there, and went on to a career as a journalist and on radio. During the 1940s, she worked as an actor in Chile. She next worked as head of the theatre section of Radio-Lima. Palomino worked for CBS in New York City in 1946. Then, she worked in Paris as a reporter for La Prensa. In 1948, Palomino came to Montreal on assignment. Later that same year, with Yvette Brind'Amour, she founded the Théâtre du Rideau Vert. From 1953 to 1965, she was producer of Spanish services at Radio Canada International.
Palomino was awarded the Order of Canada in 1983. She received the Prix Victor-Morin in 1991, the Gascon-Thomas Award in 1992, a lifetime achievement award from the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards in 1994and, also in 1994, was named a Chevalier in the National Order of Quebec. From 1969 to 1982, she served on the board of governors for the National Theatre School of Canada. From 1971 to 1985, she was president of the Association des Directeurs de Théâtre and, from 1986 to 2003, she was president of the Théâtres associés.
This homage has been organized by Cercle culturel catalan du Québec and the Department of Catalan Studies at the Université de Montréal that celebrate its 15th aniversary, in collaborationwith the Théâtre du Rideau Vert, Institut Ramon Llull and the Government of Catalonioa's Conselleria d'Afers Exteriors.
