euskalkultura.eus

Madrid, Spain.  The series organized by the Etxepare Basque Institute in Madrid in honor of Basque writer, Bernardo Atxaga, has reached its mid-point with a good response from the public and with the participation of the author himself in a number of the planned activities.  One of these, for example, was a talk that he gave on Monday at the Valle Inclan Theater.  There were many spectators that attended the event to hear the “most award-winning and most translated Basque author,” in the words of Aizpea Goenaga, director of the Etxepare.

Atxaga used a 4,000 year-old fossil – a micraster, a round stone that is striped with the image to vindicate the inner world and poetry.  The talk was entitled, “Reactions to the Striped Stone,” and following this image, Atxaga was able to implicate his audience into his poetic world.  After the talk, musicians Ruper Ordorika and Arkaitz Miner gave a concert based on the poems by this writer from Asteasu. Thirty years ago, Ordorika recorded an album, Hautsi da amphora based on the Atxaga's poems in Etiopia, and this album was the starting point of the concert, followed by several more recent songs.

The series will continue over the next few days through April 7, with the presentation of the work The Accordionist’s Son at the Valle Inclan Theater.  The work is based on the novel of the same name Soinujolearen semea and even though it is performed in Spanish, on March 30 and 31 performances in Basque will also be provided, a unique opportunity to see theater in Basque in Madrid.

-For more information go to Etxepare Basque Institute’s website