The Botín Center is launching a new stage of its pioneering study on the influence of the arts on emotions and creativity, carried out in collaboration with institutions from Cantabria
The Botín Center is beginning the second phase of the scientific study it launched last January together with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, aimed at evaluating the impact of experiencing live art on adults. After a first stage open to the general public, the research continues with a new phase that incorporates the participation of the Botín Center’s collaborating entities in order to expand the sample and continue deepening the results obtained.
In this new stage, members of the Marqués de Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL), the University of Cantabria (UC), IMEM, UNATE and the Marqués de Valdecilla Foundation will take part throughout June in various artistic experiences that will help continue generating evidence on the relationship between the arts, emotions and creativity.
To carry out this research, the Botín Center invites employees, relatives and friends of the participating entities to take part in different free artistic experiences—film, dance, theatre and music—with a dual purpose: to enjoy high‑quality artistic proposals and to contribute to advancing scientific knowledge on how the arts influence people emotionally and creatively.
The aim is for participants to experience live artistic activities, completing at random—before or after the activity—a survey that makes it possible to measure and analyse what happens after contact with art. This is a pioneering study that brings scientific analysis outside the laboratory and places it in real contexts, where emotions occur naturally.
The new phase of the project was presented yesterday at an event held in the Botín Center Auditorium, attended by representatives of the collaborating entities: Mar Marcos, Vice‑Rector for Coordination and Communication at the University of Cantabria; Miguel Pérez Luzuriaga, After‑Sales Director at IMEM; Elena Casquero, Head of Social and Cultural Action at UNATE; José Francisco Díaz, Manager of the Marqués de Valdecilla Foundation; and Galo Peralta, Managing Director of IDIVAL.
During the event, Fátima Sánchez Santiago, Executive Director of the Botín Center, highlighted that “collaboration is essential in the development of our projects. Having institutions that share our interest in research, training and personal development allows us to broaden the scope of initiatives like this one and continue building, from very diverse fields, a community committed to knowledge and creativity through the arts.”
Four artistic experiences form part of this second phase of the study
The programme for this second phase includes four artistic proposals linked to theatre, music, film and contemporary dance. Participants will be able to attend the performance of Obsolescencia, a play written and directed by Blanca del Barrio; enjoy a concert by the Adrian Cunningham Quartet, a group led by one of the most renowned multi‑instrumentalists on the international jazz scene; attend a screening of Sorda, the film by Eva Libertad that portrays the experience of a deaf woman expecting a child with her hearing partner; and discover Fronterizas, a dance‑theatre piece created by Mari Paula that explores the construction of identity between cultures.
This new stage reinforces the Botín Center’s commitment to research as a tool for further exploring the relationship between the arts and human development, while highlighting the value of collaboration with institutions and organisations dedicated to generating knowledge, applied research and social impact.
