José Miguel Puerta Vílchez is a tenured professor with the Department of Art History at the University of Granada, and is also the author of  Los códigos de utopía de la Alhambra de Granada (The Codes of Utopia in the Alhambra of Granada, 1990), La aventura del cálamo. Historia, formas y artistas de la caligrafía árabe (The Adventure of the Reed Pen: History, forms and artists in Arabic calligraphy, 2007), Leer la Alhambra. Guía visual del Monumento a través de sus inscripciones (Reading the Alhambra: A visual guide to the monument through its inscriptions, 2010, second edition 2015), La poética del agua en el islam (The Poetics of Water in Islam, 2011), El sentido artístico de Qurtuba (The Artistic Sense of Qurtuba) (2015) and Un asceta en la corte nazarí (An Aesthete in the Nasrid Court, 2016). He has also been a co-director and writer for the Biblioteca de al-Andalus (Al-Andalus Library, 9 vols., 2004–2012). He has a PhD in Arabic Philology.

This symposium addresses the theatrical work of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah. His work serves as a creative window to the world, and the symposium will introduce the most important stylistic characteristics as well as the values embodied by Al Qasimi in his theatrical writings, especially the values of justice, tolerance and humanity, through in-depth critical insights into his unique theatrical work as an aficionado of history and theater.

All about Arabic coffee, its history, varieties, development, and preparation from bean to cup. This lecture and live workshop uncover the secrets of coffee, and introduce participants to its flavors, processing methods, and range of tastes, with readings from Emirati coffee literature and related to the social habits related to this unique beverage.

Water takes many physical and imaginary forms that inspired Arab and Andalusian poets. How is water evoked by both Arabic and Andalusian poets? Can we say that water has occupied broad and varied spaces in our poetic corpus in the east as in the west? What are the connotations and aesthetics associated with the poetic evocation of water?

Juan Antonio Bernier is a poet, translator, teacher and cultural manager. As a poet, he has published the books So proceeds the bird (Valencia, Pre-texts, 2004), for which he received the RNE Critical Eye Award in 2005, Trees with a white painted trunk (Valencia, Pre-texts, 2011), Philosophy and two sparrows (Sofía, Zhanet 45, 2014), Letter and cloud (Valencia, Pre-texts, 2017) and Fruto previa, Valencia, Pre-texts, 2021), I City of Estepona International Poetry Prize. He has been included in numerous anthologies of contemporary poetry, both in Spain and abroad. He is also the author of the manual Brief green hedgehogs, 50 considerations before writing a poem (Córdoba, Cántico, 2020). Between 2004 and 2011 he was the literary co-director of the international Cosmopoetic poetry meeting (National Prize for the Promotion of Reading in 2009). As translator and editor he has published several poetry books. 

Lola Botello has a degree in Dramatic Art from the Seville Theater Institute, a Bachelor of English Philology and a PhD candidate in Show Sciences from the University of Seville, she expands her training with professionals in the performing arts such as Pablo Messiez, Denise Despeyroux, Ernesto Arias, Alfredo Sanzol, Fernanda Orazi, Andrés Lima, Alejandro Tantanian, Miguel Narros, Alicia Hermida, Julia Oliva, Paul Farrington, Jeanne Lee, Sheila Jordan, Eric de Bont, José Sanchís-Sinisterra, Rafael Spregelburd, José Manuel Mora or David Montero. With more than 20 years of professional experience in the performing arts, she works as a professional actress in companies such as Teatro del Barrio, Teatro Res Resistencia, Centro Andaluz de Teatro, Valiente Plan (of which she was founder and with which she produced, wrote and performed several shows with awards and national recognition). She is also a translator and an English-Spanish interpreter in the field of performing arts, translating theater texts and interpreting work at conferences and workshops. 

Alfonso Copado has been a Barista advisor at Cafento since 2018. For years he has been trained in the Commerce and Marketing sector, today he expresses this knowledge in the form of art. During these years as a coffee professional he has taught courses and prepared professionals for barista championships, carried out various coffee tastings, representing Cafento in different acts, fairs and events. He has also served as a monitor and presenter for Down barista championships.