El Aleph Festival Celebrates a Decade of Art and Science with New Narratives
The first ten editions of El Aleph: Art and Science Festival mark a milestone for Rosa Beltrán, coordinator of Cultural Outreach at Mexico's National Autonomous University (UNAM). The festival—a decade-long celebration of art and science—has seen growing interest over the years, she affirmed at a press conference. Beltrán, also a writer, emphasized that it reflects "an urgent and unique need in this country and around the world: to explore these fields through interconnected knowledge, institutional collaboration, and the complexity of ideas—because that is how we must now understand the world. There is no other way."
This year's tenth edition centers on the theme "New Narratives." Running from May 7 to 17, the festival will feature 837 events tackling subjects such as neuroscience, the environment, and violence. "The world has transformed so profoundly that revisiting the new narratives shaping the history of science will open our eyes to just how much has changed—far more than we realize," Beltrán noted. "We tend to assume that change only accelerated in recent years with digitalization, but we'll see how different these shifts have truly been."
She also highlighted other key topics on the agenda: "Memory, longevity, the music of the universe, and the poetry of science—all will be explored by specialists who move fluidly between art and science, enriching this edition even further."
Reflecting on the festival's legacy, Beltrán recalled that El Aleph has hosted distinguished guests since its inception, including two Nobel laureates and prominent thinkers like Judith Butler, Jean-Luc Nancy, and David Le Breton. This year's lineup features writer Diane Ackerman; musician-neuroscientists Elaine Bearer and Héctor Rasgado; astrophysicist Joel Sánchez Bermúdez; and artistic performances such as the Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory Jazz Orchestra's tribute to Miles Davis, the São Paulo City Ballet, and the comedy Partinuplés, a production by UNAM Theater. A new addition is Aldea Aleph, a small book fair focused on science and the humanities, to be held at the Explanada de la Espiga.
