Artistic visions of the Basque diaspora
June 02, 2016
The itinerant exhibition "Artistic visions of the Basque diaspora" will be shown in Saint Jean Pied de Port from June 15 to 31 July in the Prison des Evêques. First shown in Bayonne in February 2016, the exhibition comes to Saint Jean Pied de Port from Pamplona on the third leg of a tour that will cover all seven provinces of the Basque Country. Itzal aktiboa is providing a play-guide for children visiting the exhibition.
The exhibition, held in collaboration with the municipality of Saint Jean Pied de Port, is the result of an international competition organized by Eusko Ikaskuntza Iparralde - Société d'Etudes Basques. It shows a total of 21 works by 16 artists who participated in the competition, plus works by a further 3 invited artists.
A wide variety of techniques, from painting, photography and sculpture to mosaics and multimedia installations, are represented, in works addressing a range of themes linked to the experience of emigration: the departure from home, mixed feelings of excitement and nostalgia, integration in the host country, and aspects of Basque history such as whaling and enforced exile during the years of the Franco regime.
While the works are essentially expressions of individual subjectivity, they are placed in a broader context thanks to information panels telling the story of Basque emigration. The result is an academically based project anchored in real experience, in which anyone who has had to leave his or her home country can find echoes of this experience.
The inauguration of the exhibition will take place on 15 June in the Prison des Evêques.
Opening times: every day except Tuesday: 11.00 to 12.30 and 14.30 to 18.30
Free entry
