Dates and Venue

eXPOMELONERAS

Plaza de las Convenciones

35100 Meloneras - Gran Canaria - Spain

16 and 17th June 2022

Conference Topics

The Way of St. James as a spiritual and physical route

The Way of St. James has connected different peoples and cultures throughout history but it has also created a universal symbology of its own. The speakers at this event will discuss a number of aspects related to the spirituality of the various routes on the Way of St. James network, as well as the spiritual manifestations of the Canarian people throughout history, linking this to the religious pluralism that is clearly apparent in the Canary Islands of the 21st century and that might serve as a model of coexistence for other societies.

Santiago of the Oceans. The Canary Islands as a connecting link between continents

Highlighting the historic significance of the Canary Islands as a meeting point between three cultures, its contacts with North Africa and the overseas experience. The Canary Islands as a welcoming place of diversity. The Atlantic navigation routes and geopolitics of the Canary Islands from ancient times to the modern day.

The multi-cultural nature of the Canary Islands and the Volcanic Way of St. James

The cultural syncretism of the Canary Islands that combines two highly diverse civilisations: the Indo-European and the Semitic. The speakers will examine the heritage and cultural and artistic remnants of the various peoples that have settled in the Canary Islands, their legacy and the influence of that legacy on cultural, artistic and literary modernity in the Canary Islands.

The legacy of arts and humanities on culture trails

THE WAY has always been a metaphor and source of artistic and literary inspiration. From Prince Rama to Ulysses, the Argonauts, the quests to find the Golden Fleece or the Holy Grail. Travel stories have never lost their popularity because they always enrich our lives with the experiences of those who walk a different path. Hence, when we replace the word “travel” with its most sublime relation - “pilgrimage” - we have added to that physical journey a profoundly human connotation, a mystical connotation. Our work is upheld by that concept.

Tourism and natural heritage on the Volcanic Way of St. James

The speakers will offer a vision of what the Volcanic Way of St. James means for the inhabitants of the regions through which it passes from various perspectives. They will touch on issues related to anthropology, contact with others, immersion in nature, contrast between sea and mountains, the discovery of the Milky Way related to the Jacobean phenomenon and sea voyages, while focusing the talk on the extent to which this proposal connects with a global spirituality and offering their ideas on how to boost and connect the Volcanic Way of St. James with other experiences and routes.