A painting by Keixeta brings the climate crisis into the classroom

December 03, 2022

While the governments of the world quibble over their response to global warming, pupils at the ikastola of Oztibarre, in the Basque province of Lower Navarre, are tackling the same issue via art.

Hanging on a wall in the school's activities room, a painting by the artist Keixeta, "Izotz Mendia" ("Iceberg"), shows an iceberg in the process of melting. Loaned by the association Itzal aktiboa as part of its project "An artwork in the classroom", the painting gives graphic expression to the climate crisis, inviting the children to debate how to deal with it.

Born in Arroa (Gipuzkoa) in 1963, Txiki Agirre "Keixeta" uses industrial paint diluted with solvents and applied freely to paper supports to create works that resemble colour collages.

His paintings, though tending towards abstraction, often refer to his natural surroundings, in particular to the sea and the "Flysch" cliffs of Zumaia, where he lives, and also to the great debates on the environment. One of his major concerns is the threat posed by global warming. The painting in the ikastola of Oztibarre is part of a series on this theme.