Bitamine Faktoria has launched the 2015 calls for grants for creation. Through this calls Bitamine Faktoria supports projects by both individual creators and collective initiatives, permanent spaces for independent production and cultural agents, thus contributing to enhance the creative work of the area and achieving wider dissemination among citizens.

The deadline for submission of applications ends on March 31, 2015 and grants are intended for innovation projects and activities with content of free choice. The call is aimed at artists who develop their activity in Gipuzkoa and Lapurdi.

Factors such as quality, experience, innovation, connectivity and cross-border projects will be considered whe taking a decision. The call is aimed at beneficiaries of 20-40 years.

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Bernardo Atxaga will present the Bulgarian translation of the novel Obabakoak in Sofia (Bulgaria) on January 29, with the help of the Cervantes Institute of Bulgaria and the Etxepare Basque Institute. The translation was edited by the publisher Panorama, in collaboration with the Institute. In the presentation, attendees will enjoy on firsthand and Basque the words of the famous author.

The event will be held in an auditorium of the book store Greenwich, at 18:30, and will be attended by the translator -María Pachkova- and editor. Pachkova translated Obabakoak in 2012, but already knew in advance his work as she also translated Soinujolearen Semea in 2009. She has also translated works by various authors from Spanish, such as Eduardo Galeano or Julio Cortázar.

Obabakoak is one of the most popular publications of Basque literature and has been translated into more than 25 languages.

The Etxepare Basque Institute became today an associate member of the Europe cluster of EUNIC, the network of National Institutes of Culture of the European Union (British Council, Goethe Institut, Alliance Française, Instituto Cervantes, etc). The meeting was held this morning at the Embassy of Latvia in Brussels. Beyond the Belgian institutes representing the Walloon and Flemish cultures, Etxepare Basque Institute has thus become the first member that does not represent a state of the European Union.

The appointment is the result of the joint work carried out between Etxepare Basque Institute and the Basque Country Delegation to the European Union, and comes just months after Aizpea Goenaga, director of the Institute, appeared in September before the EUNIC Director Comitee to present the nature and objectives of the organization.

EUNIC aims to promote cooperation between European countries in the cultural field and encourage projects and multilateral initiatives. The fact that the Etxepare Basque Institute becomes a member of this network allows the Basque Country to cooperate directly with other member states of the European Union, and open possibilities and options for external partnerships to the Basque cultural and creative sector. It is a tangible result of the work that is carried out to position the Basque Country within the European Union.

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His name is Patricio and is from Chile. He is one of the students of the readership of Basque language and Culture at the University of Chile, but last week he was in the Forest of Oma wearing his scarf of Athletic. Patricio is the student who is staying at the Barnetegi of Zornotza thanks to the Etxepare Basque Institute and Aurten Bai Foundation.

Thanks to the collaboration between these two entities, international students have the opportunity to know the Basque language and culture on first hand, with stays of approximately three weeks at the Barnetegi of Zornotza. In addition to studying the Basque language, they also get involved with our land, culture and customs. For example, Patrick visited the Oma Forest together with his classmates last week.

The students of the second round of winter will come to Zornotza in February (2-27) for a stay of three weeks. They are 4 in total and come from Chile and Argentina.

Korrika AEK and the Etxepare Basque Institute have launched a new contest for students of the Institute readerships. They will demonstrate that they are also euskahalduns (slogan of the Korrika 19) and will be ambassadors of the Korrika internationally. The winning prize of this contest video format will be a stay in a barnetegi for the summer season.

To bring the Korrika –a race in favor of the Euskera that crosses the whole Basque Country-  to all over the world, participants will show us their city, showing that they are euskahalduns and that Basque language is able to reach the entire globe. Videos can be recorded using devices such as mobile phones and have a maximum duration of 20 seconds.

19. Korrika will depart from Urepel on March 19 to go over the Basque Country for 10 days, and to finish on the 29th in Bilbao. Its message, however, will cross borders to spread throughout the world, as every two years.

Videos will be received and disseminated between 2 -20 February, and the winner will be announced on the 23rd. So, do not hesitate, if you´re a readership student  - and if you are not - be euskahaldun!

The travelling exhibition GAUR(sic) has arrived to the last stop: it will be inaugurated today in Santiago de Chile, where it will be displayed until February 15. This is the eighth stop for the exhibition that has also visited London, Managua, Montevideo, Tegucigalpa, San José, Mexiko DF, Córdoba and Santiago de Chile.

This project gathers works by eight different artists and can now be visited in Santiago de Chile –until February 15-, México DF –until February 16-, and Córdoba (Argentina) – until March-. During the tour, some of the artists have traveled with the exhibition offering talks and workshops.

GAUR(sic) is a research project that took shape in a travelling exhibition of video works which was curated by Nekane Aramburu. The final selection of works centred on eight creative proposals, the work of the artists Sra. Polaroiska (Alaitz Arenzana and María Ibarretxe), Colombina’s (Larraitz Torres and Sandra Cuesta), Aitor Lajarin,  Zuhar Iruretagoiena, Iratxe Jaio and Klaas van Gorkum, Saioa Olmo, Juan Aizpitarte and Ixone Sadaba.

GAUR (sic) is not just a taster of the current panorama of art which attempts to demonstrate a representation of the most outstanding creative practices or generate a generational diagnosis-exhibition with all the risks and unfairness of a real-time sampling. Beyond this, the moment has arrived to bring to wider attention the new panorama of Basque artistic creativity, linking it genealogically to the history of contemporary art in general with a less formalist and vertical focus, like a current revision of the state of affairs, demonstrating a shift in content, the construction of images and national as well as international production models.

The company Vaiven Producciones from San Sebastian closed the year 2014 with several awards to one of their latest shows: the black comedy HappyEnd.

This new proposal was performed for two weeks at the famous hall Cuarta Pared of Madrid, where the plot received significant success both from audience and critics. After closing this season in Madrid, two days later, they offered the show at the "National Theatre Festival Garnacha de Rioja" held in Haro, where it was the most awarded show winning three awards: Best Actor for Xabi Donosti, Best Scenic Editing and the special mention of the jury for the best show.

The contest of Haro is a national reference, and celebrated this year its 17^th edition gathering more than eighty companies across the state.

The work has received excellent reviews from various media. Here you are some of them:

 “Una obra con una estructura de corte clásico pero que sorprende con valentía, atrevimiento y un afilado sentido del humor, tratando temas tan controvertidos como el derecho a una muerte digna, la familia, la honradez y la moral humana. Un canto a la vida y un homenaje a la elección de vivirla". Leticia Castelo - "La República Cultural"

"Happy End es un texto inteligente. ../... Ya sé que es un tópico pero no puedo evitar repetir que hay mucho talento desparramado que pocas veces tiene la oportunidad de mostrarse en Madrid". P.J.L. Domínguez - "Guía del ocio".

"Un diluvio de humor negro empapa un divertido texto. Un doble final permite elegir la opción que se prefiera para la conclusión de la historia". J.I. García Garzón - "Abc"

With an agreement between AlhóndigaBilbao and the Etxepare Basque Institute, the annual program Amphitryon has been launched, which promotes a regular program of live arts, facilitates the mobility of artists and the internationalization of local proposals. Amphitrion will start on January 17 with the show In between.

Through this program, some Basque companies will present their work in AlhóndigaBilbao and will invite international companies to act at the center; in the same way back, international companies will invite Basque ones to act abroad.

This art project is curated by theater and dance companies of the Basque Country Horman Poster, Olatz de Andrés, Helena Golab and Ruemaniak and has been presented today, January 13, in AlhóndigaBilbao. The director of the Etxepare Institute, Aizpea Goenaga, has also joined the event which presented the project that gathers dance, theater and performance.

Amphitryon will start with the premiere of Helena Golab’s  In between, on 17 and 18 January at the Center for Complementary Activities. They will also take part the El cielo ahora of Olatz de Andrés, Magia Simpática of Horman Poster, and Notes about animals, encounters and higways of Ruemaniak- Sra. Polaroiska.

This dynamic facilitates the exchange of artistic processes that creates professional relationships and opens processes of exchange and mutual understanding between artists and cultural centers.