Casa Asia’s headquarters are located in the Baró de Quadras Palace, a modernist building dating from thebeginning of the 20th century, designed by the Catalan architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch. The palace, whichis listed as a Historic Artistic Monument of National Interest, was opened as the headquarters of Casa Asiain June 2003 and has several facilities which enable it to host various initiatives, activities and services thatthe institution carries out. As a result, it has become a renowned centre for information and learning onAsia and the Pacific in Spain and a meeting-point for Spanish and Asian society.

The Casa Asia Centre-Madrid, located in the Palace of Miraflores, was opened in June 2007 in response tointerest from Asian ambassadors, as well as economic, social and cultural actors in Madrid. The centre, aswell as carrying out activities, has a multimedia library, exhibition room, auditorium for lectures and classroomsfor courses.

InstitutionalRelations

FORUMSCasa Asia promotes the organization of forums with Asian countries with the aim of strengthening bilateralrelations and promoting exchanges in fields such as those related to culture, economy, academia and cooperation.Bilateral forums are held with India, the Philippines and Korea, and feature the participation of representativesfrom civil society and governments from both countries.

Casa Asia has established collaboration agreements with more than a hundred institutions and organizationssuch as the Japan Foundation, the Korea Foundation, the Siam Society and Asialink. It is a member of theboard of trustees of the Spain-Japan Foundation Council and the Spain-China Forum and has worked withthe Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF) since its establishment. It also maintains a fluid relation with the AsiaSociety and has established contacts with the Ibero-American Secretariat General, the China Institute, HarvardUniversity and with centres dedicated to the Pacific in Mexico, Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires.

Signing of the Memorandum to reintroduce Spanish into the Filipino education system in the framework of the V Spain-Philippines Forum (2010)

CASA ASIA AWARDEver year Casa Asia gives an award in recognition of people and institutions from Asia, the Pacific and Spainwho through their projects or activities have made an exceptional contribution to the furthering ofunderstanding, dialogue and harmony between these societies or have stood out for their work on behalfof dignity and human rights in these regions.

People and organizations who have received the Casa Asia award include: Miguel F. Rovira from the EFE newsagency and the Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe (2009); the Indian NGO Chingari Trust and the Pakistanijournalist Ahmed Rashid (2008); the publishing house of Popular Chinese Literature and the Jesuit KikeFigaredo (2007); the Suma collection of Spanish art from the Prefectural Art Museum of Nagasaki and theMarugame Hirai Museum in Japan (2006); the Pakistani Mukhtar Mai, the journalist Rosa Maria Calaf, andthe Spanish Coordinating Committee of NGOs for Development (2005); Professor Raimon Panikkar and theSpanish Department from the University of Beijing and the China Europe International Business School(CEIBS) in Shanghai (2004).

Ahmed Rashid and Chingari Trust2008

The Mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón,with the prize-winners from 2009

Gloria MacapagalPresident of the Philippines

Personalities who have visited Casa Asia

Muhammad JatamiFormer Iranian President

Chandrika KumaratungaFormer President of Sri Lanka

Mohammad Ehsan ZiaAfghan Minister ofReconstruction andDevelopment

Nguyen Minh TrietPresident of Vietnam

Kassym-Jomart TokayevPresident of theKazakhstan Senate

Her Royal HighnessPrincess Cristina

Abdul Raheem WardakAfghan Minister of Defence

Sid MyerPresident of Asialink(Australia)

Vishaka N. DesaiPresident of the Asia Society(United States)

Hong-Koo LeeFormer Prime Ministerof South Korea

William J. PerryProfessor from StanfordUniversity and formerUS Defense Secretary

Bilaibhan SampatisiriVice-President of theSiam Society(Thailand)

Li ZhaoxingFormer Chinese ForeignAffairs Minister

Yoon Young KwanFormer Minister ofForeign Affairs and Tradefrom the Republic of Korea

Mukhtar MaiPakistani Teacher andHuman Rights Defender

Asian Communities

Casa Asia has become a meeting point for the Asian communities who live in our country.Among other activities, in the framework of the new China Strategy a study has beenundertaken on the Chinese community in Barcelona and Madrid. Further studies will followon communities from Pakistan, India, Nepal and Bangladesh in both cities. At the same time,the findings of these studies were presented at a session of conferences which began in 2010,with the aim of publicizing the reality of immigration from this region.

EducationCasa Asia offers an ever-widening range of courses every year to disseminate, as well as Asian languages(Chinese, Japanese, Sanskrit, Hindi, Indonesian, Tibetan, etc.), the culture of this continent. To that end, thecourses cover other specialized disciplines such as ikebana (Japanese floral art), shadow theatre, Bollywooddance, the ceremony of Japanese tea, traditional Chinese medicine, haiku and Hindu meditation, amongstothers.

BAMBOO SCHOOLThe Bamboo School is an intercultural education projectdeveloped by Casa Asia which brings the Asia and thePacific region closer to the school population (pre-school, primary, secondary, adult and non-formaleducation), through a variety of social and culturalactivities. In Barcelona, this programme offers severaldifferent courses and workshops, in Casa Asia as well asin schools. From the beginning of the 2009-2010academic year, the Bamboo School was extended toMadrid in order to cover the growing demand from theeducation sector.

SCHOLARSHIPS IN SUPPORT OF RESEARCHCasa Asia has two yearly aid programmes: the Ruy deClavijo scholarships, for research projects and culturalcooperation, and the Antoni Montserrat programme,which promotes the visit of Asian personalities to ourcountry in order to participate in meetings, courses,seminars and cultural festivals. Casa Asia also awardsthe Marco Polo Prize every year, a literary competitionwhich gives the prize of a trip to an Asia-Pacific countryto a student in the 3rd or 4th year of secondary school.

CONFUCIUS INSTITUTEThe headquarters of the Confucius Institute inBeijing, which is dedicated to the promotion ofthe Chinese language and culture, Casa Asia andthe Autonomous University of Madrid opened thefirst Confucius Institute in Spain in 2007. Its aimis to respond to the growing demand for the studyof this language in our country. In 2008, theheadquarters of the Confucius Institute, Casa Asia,the University of Barcelona and the AutonomousUniversity of Barcelona signed an agreement toestablish a Confucius Institute in Barcelona.

Casa Asia’s courses

Economic andCooperation

ASIA FORUMThe Asia Forum is a financial and business meeting which every year brings together business people andprominent European and Asian experts in order to analyze the current economic situation in Asia and thestrategic challenges which it raises for the establishment of Spanish companies in this market. In 2008 theForum gave way to the Global China Business Meeting, which was attended by business people and presidentsfrom the main Chinese and European companies, and, in 2010, to the Global India Business Meeting, attendedby business people from India.

“LA CAIXA”- CASA ASIA SCHOLARSHIPSSince 2004, Casa Asia and the Fundación “la Caixa” have promoteda programme of 10 scholarships for a Master of Business Administration(MBA) in the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) inShanghai, with the aim of training young executives who cansubsequently join Spanish companies. Since 2007, five scholarshipshave also been granted for MBAs in the Indian School of Business(ISB), in Hyderabad.

BUSINESS COURSESThese provide information on the economic and business situation, business culture and key aspects in thedifferent phases of internationalization that a company must undertake in order to gain access to Asianmarkets. Business courses have been organized on China, India, Japan and South Korea and are aimed atexecutives and business people wishing to establish commercial or investment relations in Asia-Pacific countries.

WORKING BREAKFASTS AND CONGRESSESThis department’s regular programme of activities includes a seriesof seminars, working-breakfasts and congresses related to businessand cooperation with Asian countries. Amongst others, the Congresson Asian Tourism should be highlighted, which was held for the secondtime in 2010 in collaboration with Turespaña, Turisme de Barcelonaand Turisme de Catalunya, and the seminar “Africa, the new Chinesefrontier”, organized in 2008 in collaboration with Casa África.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Asturias and other authorities at the opening ceremony of the Global China Business Meeting (2008)

GOVERNASIAThe goal of the GovernAsia programme is to provide information on thesituation of governance in emerging or developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region, through different mechanisms. These include the websitewww.governasia.com and the International Conference, which deals withdiverse subjects, such as climate change and renewable energy, socialresponsibility of foreign businesses in China, digital cities, e-governance andmicro-credits for development.

ASIA INNOV@In the Asia Innov@ Conference, which is an annual event, subjects ofinnovation, scientific affairs of the day and technological development inthe Asian continent are analyzed, via debate with prominent Asian experts.Robotics, nanotechnology and information communication technologies (ICT)in Asia are some of the subjects which have been covered in this conference.

GOVERNANCE AND COOPERATIONActivities related to cooperation for the socio-economic development ofAsia and the Pacific, following the guidelines of the Spanish Agency for

International Cooperation for Development, represent a course of action for Casa Asia. The promotion ofinnovation, good governance and environmental sustainability in developing Asian countries are the threemain lines of work and reaffirm Casa Asia’s commitment to contributing in the best possible way to theachievement of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.

Micro-credit conference (2009): Jennifer N. Riria, director general of the Kenya Women Finance Trust, Mary Ellen Iskenderian, President of Women’s World Banking and Nurjahan Begum, director general of the Grameen Bank

CultureCasa Asia has an annual exhibition programme in Barcelona and Madrid, and also works in collaboration inthis area with other Spanish and Asian institutions, museums and cultural centres. Casa Asia has alsoestablished an annual film programme in both sites, and participates in festivals in Spain which have sectionsdedicated to Asian cinema. Activities also cover artistic and cultural theory and practice through theorganization of seminars, such as “Asian Maps” and participation in cultural activities, such as the MangaRoom, the Barcelona LOOP Festival of Video Art, The Night of Books, The Night of Theatres and The Nightof Museums, among others. 

The Rebirth of a NationSeptember - December 2006

Pierrre GonnordJanuary - April 2006

Takashi MurakamiOctober - November 2007

China. Portrait of a Country(1949-2008)March – May 2009

Indian Narratives inthe 21st CenturyJuly - September 2009

Toyo ItoMarch - May 2009

Beijing Time. La hora de ChinaDecember 2009 – March 2010

The Sea with Two Names -Video Art from KoreaSeptember – October 2006

Iranian Graphic DesignFebruary - April 2008

Highlighted Exhibitions

Other cultural activities

ASIAN MAPS (ARCO)As part of the International Festival of Contemporary Art (ARCO), Casa Asia has organized the “Asian Maps”seminar since 2004, which encourages dialogue around art through round tables between Spanish and Asianartists.

CULTURAL NIGHTS IN MADRIDThe Asian Route is Casa Asia’s contribution to Madrid´s all-night cultural festival, Noche en Blanco, throughan eclectic and contemporary collection of activities which brings an Asian flavour to this Madrid evening.Furthermore, since 2008, the institution has participated in The Night of Books and The Night of Theatreswhich are also held in the capital.

CINEMA IN CASA ASIACasa Asia collaborates with, amongst other film festivals, the Barcelona Asian Film Festival (BAFF), whichawards the Durián de Oro to the best film, and in the Orient Express-Casa Asia section of the SitgesInternational Fantastic Film Festival. Every week the institution also screens a double bill of Asian cinemaand, throughout the year, special seasons such as the Series of Korean Cinema, the Hong Kong Cinema Weekand Japan Cult Cinema.

Caraka Laras, from Indonesia, in La Noche en Blanco’s Asian Route

Politics and Society

Issues related to gender, development andthe culture of peace are given specialprominence in lectures and seminarsorganized by Casa Asia. Current political,social and cultural subjects of major relevancein the region are covered. Book presentationsand documentary screenings are alsoorganized.

EAST-WEST DIALOGUESince 2004, the East-West Dialogue has been held annually with a distinguished groupof politicians, former heads of State and Government, academics and representativesof non-governmental organizations and civil society from the East and West with theaim of promoting better understanding and international cooperation between bothcultures and civilizations, as well as increasing political and cultural exchanges. Everyyear, the Dialogue, which is committed to the Millennium Development Goals and thenational plan for the Alliance of Civilizations, is held with the collaboration of UNESCO,

the Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF), the Club of Madrid, the Fundación Tres Culturas, the Association for theUnited Nations in Spain (ANUE) and also receives sponsorship from the Spanish Agency for InternationalCooperation for Development (AECID).

IBERO-AMERICAN OBSERVATORY FOR ASIA-PACIFICSince 2006, Casa Asia, in collaboration with Casa de América, has promotedthe Ibero-American Observatory for Asia-Pacific, which consists of a digitalplatform (www.iberoasia.org) at the disposal of the Ibero-American

community. It also carries out activities in Spain and collaborates in international events, with the aim ofimproving relations and information exchange on Asia-Pacific and its links with Ibero-America.

Central Asia Observatory

This project emerged from collaboration withthe Elcano Royal Institute of International Studiesand Strategies and the Fundación CIDOB andhas been in operation since 2008. The CentralAsia Observatory consists of an informationportal and permanent framework for research,discussion and specialization in the region(www.asiacentral.es), updated on a daily basisand is exclusively dedicated to informing on thelatest developments from Central Asian countries.

Technology andCybercultureFrom digital life to videogames, via mobile phone culture,gadgets and a whole array of urban trends, Casa Asia promotesthrough a new project the dissemination of these new socialtrends related to digitization, in which Asia is a pioneeringregion. The “Asia Geek” series of conferences, which began in2009 in Barcelona, looks at digital life and urban trends incountries such as Japan, China and the Republic of Korea throughinteraction between the public and experts on cybercultureand Asia.

In addition to this, there is the “New Urban Cultures”, an initiativefrom the Ministry of Culture which works in collaboration withCasa Asia and different Spanish Embassies and InstitutosCervantes in Asia. Its aim is to increase the understanding ofour country’s urban culture through conferences, film screeningsand exhibitions, at the same time seeking to establish newnetworks between Spain and Asian countries, as was the casein 2009 in Tokyo and in 2010 in Seoul.

Experts and intellectuals who have visited Casa Asia

Ramin JahanbeglooIranian intellectual

Zainah AnwarFounder of the Sisters in Islam(Malaysia)

Muhammad Yunus2006 Nobel Peace Laureate(Bangladesh)

Mitiko GoPresident of OchanomizuUniversity(Japan)

Attiya InayatullahMember of the PakistaniParliament

Fukaya TakashiFormer Minister of Trade,Industry and Tourism(Japan)

Indira NathProfessor of Immunology(India)

Rajendra Pachauri2007 Nobel Peace Laureate(India)

Vandana ShivaActivist and theoretical physicist(India)

Grigori MarchenkoPresident of the NationalBank of the Republicof Kazakhstan

Azita RafhatMember of the Wolosi Jirgha,Afghan Parliament

Chak MoelRepresentative of the Ministryof Women’s Affairs from theindigenous province of Ratanakiri(Cambodia)

Heizo TakenakaDirector of the Global SecurityResearch Institute fromKeio University (Japan)

Siti Musdah MuliaProfessor and adviser,Ministry of Religious Affairs(Indonesia)

Li JunfengPresident of the ChinaRenewable EnergyEntrepreneurs Club

Ronnie ChanPresident of the Hang LungGroup from China

Mo YanWriter (China)

Salman RushdieWriter (India)

Shobhaa DéWriter (India)

Dai SijieWriter and filmmaker (China)

Xinran XueWriter (China)

Kenzaburo OeWriter (Japan)

Artists and writers who have visited Casa Asia

Nazim ZehraJournalist (Pakistan)

Vikram ChandraWriter (India)

Haruki MurakamiWriter (Japón)

Bibi RussellUNESCO Artist for Peace(Bangladesh)

Rong RongPhotographer (China)

Toyo ItoArchitect (Japan)

Manuel OcampoPainter (Philippines)

José Manuel BallesterPhotographer (Spain)

Azar NafisiWriter (Iran)

Yu HuaWriter (China)

Asia Festival

Casa Asia brings together cultures and traditions from the Asian continent through the Asia Festival whichhas been held every year in Barcelona since 2002. Dance, music, shows for children, workshops, exhibitionsand a wide range of artistic traditional and contemporary expressions make up this multidisciplinary festival.It is an unmissable event for anyone interested in the varied cultural expressions of Asia. Those attendingare therefore not merely spectators but become an integral part of a festival which has the participationof citizens as one of its main attractions, and especially that of Asian communities living in our country.

The rock musician Cui Jian, the Akram Khan Company, the choreographer Park Soon-Ho, the video artistKyungwoo Chun and the Filipino singer Grace Nono are some of the artists who have performed in thisannual festival of Asian culture.

Services

MULTIMEDIA LIBRARYThe Multimedia Library is a multimedia documentation centre on Asia-Pacific which acts asa support for Casa Asia’s educational and cultural activities. To that end it has almost 20,000titles in different formats (books, CD, DVD), a newspaper and periodicals library and a videolibrary, Internet access and has two locations: Barcelona and Madrid. As a special feature, theBarcelona multimedia library is home to the Daniélou audio library archive, an audio legacyfrom the French musicologist and philosopher Alain Daniélou, with more than 50 hours oftraditional Asian music. The Multimedia Library in the Casa Asia Centre Madrid, for its part,houses the Confucius Library, which contains material from the Confucius Institute.

INFOASIAInfoAsia is the information point for Casa Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. Located on thelower ground floor of the Baró de Quadras Palace in Barcelona, and in the exhibition roomof the Casa Asia Centre-Madrid, InfoAsia offers, as well as detailed information on coursesand activities in Casa Asia and ClubCasaAsia, the sale of catalogues and publications, andregistration for the Club, courses and bulletins from Casa Asia. It also offers information andrecommendations for organizing trips to Asia-Pacific (itineraries, guides, travel agencies, etc.)and contacts related to Asia, such as business and cultural associations, schools, shops,businesses, restaurants, etc.

www.casaasia.es

INTERNET AND MULTIMEDIACasa Asia has strengthened its presence in the Internet through a digital platform which updates on a dailybasis almost a hundred sections in three languages: Spanish (www.casaasia.es), Catalan (www.casaasia.cat)and English (www.casaasia.eu). Casa Asia’s webpage has grown to become an international reference forSpanish content on Asia and the Pacific. Along with sections devoted to events calendars, news, databasesof Asian centres and centres of study, micro-sites and other services such as the children´s sections, therecan also be found videos, audio clips and images which enable Casa Asia to disseminate knowledge aboutthe Asian continent.

Furthermore, the new website has a mobile phone version, offers syndication of content (RSS) and complieswith Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines. In addition, Casa Asia can be found on the main social networkingsites, and has more than 3,000 users on its own channels on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and Youtube.

CLUBCASAASIAClubCasaAsia was created in 2005 in order to offer activities related to themore playful expressions of Asian cultures and those related to well-being. Ithas offered courses in ayurvedic medicine, tangram, origami, feng shui, reiki,kundalini yoga, taichi, qi gong, wushu, bonsai/suiseki, Bhangra dance, Khatakdance, urushi, tea ceremony, talks on Japanese culture, among others. Foryoung ones, the Club organizes handicrafts such as origami, Japanese wrapping,pottery, Chinese kites, traditional games such as tangram or go and yoga familysessions. In 2008 the Club also opened in Madrid.

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