Iliana Ferrer: "Many things can be done in the faculty if there is will and passion"

30/07/2024

Bogotá, Mexico City, Quito and Barcelona are cities with urban centers full of history and diversity. The Center is a transmedia project that, through the collaboration of students and professors from various Ibero-American universities, documents the essence of these urban spaces through different creative formats. At the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​this project has been led by professor Iliana Ferrer, who has guided the First Course of Journalism students in the creation of non-fiction narratives. In this interview, we will speak with Iliana to learn about her experience, but also her perspective on this exciting project.

What does the “El Centro” project consist of and how did the idea of ​​carrying it out come about?

The exhibition is one of the results of a project that we carried out in the Audiovisual Languages ​​subject during the first year of Journalism. I am responsible, but the project was only done with a portion of the students, around a third of the students, that is, about 29 students. It all arose because we were invited to the Network of Latin American Creation Laboratories to develop an interuniversity project. The idea was to collaborate between the Tadeo Lozano universities in Bogotá, the Panamericana in Mexico City, the International of Ecuador in Quito and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

We decided that the central theme of the project would be "The Center". In this way, we asked the students, in interuniversity groups formed by three students from Barcelona, ​​three from Quito, three from Bogotá and usually one from Mexico City, to develop at least three different audiovisual formats on this same topic. This all started as an experiment; Personally, at first I was very nervous because of all the participating universities we were the only ones with a different time zone, and, furthermore, the students were first year and were only about 18-19 years old.

However, it is true that I was very surprised because, although they could choose the formats, the majority of the students opted for physical formats, such as photography, magazines or books, and amplified these contents on a digital level. For example, one of the groups did a project called "Voices of the City", where they featured street musicians. Once the project was finished, I was very satisfied, since I did not expect such interest in the "offline" modality. All of this led us to the idea of ​​holding a photographic exhibition where we could present the physical works that the students had created.

What have been the reactions and participation of the students towards the exhibition?

Being a pilot project, the day we presented the final results, the students were very excited because they put in a lot of effort and dedication. I always told them that this was a collaborative job and that they should be able to solve the problems that arose. In this sense, the Barcelona students, in particular, took the initiative when they saw difficulties in the project.

Communication with other countries was complicated, since it was mainly through WhatsApp, but the reactions were always positive. In fact, it is going to be very difficult for me to separate myself from this group because I have fallen in love with them for their interest and dedication when it comes to working. When I told them about the possibility of holding an exhibition at the faculty, they didn't believe it; They were very excited.

Besides the students, have there been other collaborators on this project?

Not during the development of the project, but in the distribution of the results we did receive help. I spoke with the dean's office and with other professors such as Guillem Marca and Montse Bonet, who supported me from the first moment. We also received help from the Maintenance Service when setting up the exhibition, such as Rosa, who suggested using white canvas to display the photographs. The truth is that everyone was very involved in the final part of the project.

Do you think it would be possible to continue with this type of initiatives in the future?

Without a doubt, we will continue to do so next year. I have already spoken with other teachers and, although I do not know if Quito will participate, Bogotá and Mexico are interested in continuing with the project. In addition, a new teacher who comes from Pompeu Fabra will join the project, so it will get bigger and bigger. We are also lucky that one of the teachers from Bogotá has contacts with the Colombian national channel, and they may broadcast some of the projects. Imagining that we have that opportunity for first-year students is magnificent.

Finally, I would like to highlight that many things can be done in college if there is will and passion. I have found a lot of support from the dean's office and the communications department, which is very important when it comes to ensuring that all students have opportunities like this. I think it is a very enriching initiative for the faculty and also for our students, who have demonstrated their talent.

If you want to know more about the exhibition, follow them at @elcentrodoc.