Institut Ramon LLull

Raül Garrigasait has shown with this latest essay why he is one of the most original thinkers writing in Catalan. Here is a book, or toolbox, to help us reflect on our humanistic tradition, modernity’s crisis, and our current apocalyptic climate experiences. From its title onwards, his essay is full of tension points -ancient/modern, tradition/creation, magic/ science, sacred/profane- capsizing logic and offering unexpected harmonies between opposites. The work’s central theme lies in the relationship between religion and art; firstly in a context of secularization; and secondly, in one of helplessness. As for the book’s subtitle, it pertains to a discourse linking Ramon Llull (13th century) with Tàpies (20th century) along a chain of Catalan and European Kabbalists, mystics, artists, musicians, poets, and thinkers in a veritable polyphonic display of ideas.

The author’s precise and elegant prose, however, transcends both theme and subtitle. Garrigasait has the ability to take just about any object of study as a summary and symbol of a dynamic totality; whether it be a passage from the Old Testament, a biography of Christ written in the 15th century, the Faustian myth, a piano piece, or an abstract 20th century painting, anything starting point is a valid one when unravelling the world’s inexhaustible relationships in a veritable celebration of intelligence.