11/29/2011

For four years in a row, the MA Studio in Pekin, managed by Judas Arrieta originally of Hondarribia, has opened the call for applications for the art scholarships “Goazen Txinara!” (Let’s go to China). Thanks to these scholarships two Basque creators can stay in Beijing for two months in order to complete a project related to the Asian country. MA Studio takes care of the trip and renting a place to work. The project is also supported by the Etxepare Basque Institute. The deadline for applications is January 30th and the stay would take place between August 1 and September 30, 2012.
Read more...
11/29/2011

As part of the Euskara Munduan program, HABE continues to subsidize Basque classes in different European Basque clubs, as well as providing teacher training and materials designed especially for them. Accordingly, the Basque institute has renewed its agreements with Basque centers in London and Paris, as well as signing a new agreement with the Basque club in Pau. HABE’s Kinku Zinkunegi also met with the Basque community in Brussels who has revived its Basque classes this year.
Read more...
11/28/2011

A dozen Basque publishers are in Mexico, participating in Guadalajara’s International Book Fair. It is the largest of its kind in Latin America, and just as last year, Basque culture will be present at the hands of the Basque Etxepare Institute, the Office of Euskadi in Mexico, the Basque language Publishers Association and the Basques editors Guild. Today writer Anjel Lertxundi will give a talk to young scholars and tomorrow will present Etxeko Hautsa (Dirty Laundry). On Thursday Lertxundi will travel to the Basque club in Mexico City along with Aizpea Goenaga and Mari Jose Olaziregi of the Etxepare Basque Institute in order to participate in the celebration of the International Day of Euskera there.
Read more...
11/25/2011

Stands are already going up in the Landako pavilion since it will once again be the scene for Durango’s book and record fair. The fair will become the cultural epicenter of Euskal Herria during those five days with the latest from the publishing and record worlds being presented: 313 books, 63 records, 23 magazines, 9 videos, 15 electronic books and another 11 publications. For those who can’t attend in person all fair activity can be followed through social media, and also via your cell phone thanks to a new app called, “Kulturize.”
Read more...
11/23/2011

The writer Mariasun Landa was awarded this year’s Dabilen Elea prize, in honor of her prolific literary career. Landa insists that the award is also recognition of children’s literature written in Basque; “something that would have been unthinkable thirty years ago,” she added. That is when Landa began to write children’s books, since her students didn’t have anything that to read in Basque, as she explained to EuskalKultura.com. Along the way she discovered the beauty of the genre; just as thousands of readers have around the world since more than 30 of her works have been translated into Catalan, Spanish, Galician, English, French, Russian, Breton, Albanian, Arabic, German, Greek and even Korean.
Read more...
11/23/2011

Ever traveled to the Basque Country and had trouble making a decision on where to eat? No longer will the decision be a complicated one. The app “The Basque Country: Cuisine and Culture” is here to help. With this interactive digital guidebook available for your iPhone you can access reviews of over 200 places to eat, sight see, and experience the wonders of the Basque Country.
Read more...
11/21/2011

It is known that there is interest in the Basque culture in Barcelona and currently there are nearly 170 people enrolled in Basque classes at the Euskal Etxea’s Cultural Center, as part of the Euskara Munduan program. Last week representatives from HABE and the Basque club renewed the agreement in this respect, in which the Basque club will receive 22,000 Euros in order to pay for 2,100 teaching hours. Present at the signing were Lourdes Auzmendi, Vice-Minister of Language Policy of the Basque Government, and HABE’s director, Iñaki Uribe. After the meeting they then met with some of the students who conveyed their concerns and projects to them.
Read more...
11/18/2011

The Basque group Siroka is in Udine, in the Italian region of Friuli, and participated this weekend in the 2011 International Liet Festival. This event is known as “the Eurovision of minority languages,” and gathers 12 representatives from as many European nations and regions. The group will perform the song “Hi vascofona!” against groups from Scotland, Ireland, Friesland, Asturias, Sami, Udmurtia and Ladinia among others. The festival will take place on Saturday and can be be followed live on the internet.
Read more...
11/18/2011

After a year of waiting, Semana Vasca came and went in a blink of an eye. There are many things that you can do during a short time at the most compelling festival in the Diaspora. Dancing, music, sports, and seeing friends…and when it’s just getting good, it’s time to say good-bye, and then starts the countdown for the next get together. In Necochea, the farewell took place at the Danish College, on Sunday afternoon, after mass and dancing in the plaza. The lunch gathered nearly 1,000 diners that also included officials from the Basque Government as well as local institutions. Throughout the meal, the Basque club awarded gifts and prizes to the winners of the competitions.
Read more...
11/17/2011

The group Gose performed its first US tour on November 5-12 with concerts in San Francisco and Boise. Their performance at the San Francisco Cultural Center took place as part of BEO’s Nafarroaren Eguna and they also performed at Boise’s Basque club. They also held two more concerts in California, outside of the Basque circuit, and they told EuskalKultura.com how surprised they were by how well received their music was, a fusion of trikitixa and electronic, in all four instances.
Read more...