A meeting point between Basque and Polish cultures at the BASK festival, in Wroclaw

For the fourth time, the European Cultural Capital Wroclaw 2016 has organized the festival BASK on July 1-3, as a meeting point between Basque and Polish cultures . This time they will have a closer look at the ways the Basques understand the entertainment (looking for similarities and differences between the Polish and Basque leisure activities). The theme of this year´s edition is GAME || JOKOA, understood in the context of artistic activities as such and in the context of documenting entertainment. Why? The entertainment is a key to determine both the identity of a given generation and any forms of social life. It is also an essential element of culture which is established and constantly developing outside the offices, away from professional duties.

BASK was created as a platform for dialogue between Wrocław and San Sebastian, the Wrocław´s twin European Capital of Culture 2016.

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For the fourth time, the European Cultural Capital Wroclaw 2016 has organized the festival BASK on July 1-3, as a meeting point between Basque and Polish cultures . This time they will have a closer look at the ways the Basques understand the entertainment (looking for similarities and differences between the Polish and Basque leisure activities). The theme of this year´s edition is GAME || JOKOA, understood in the context of artistic activities as such and in the context of documenting entertainment. Why? The entertainment is a key to determine both the identity of a given generation and any forms of social life. It is also an essential element of culture which is established and constantly developing outside the offices, away from professional duties.

BASK was created as a platform for dialogue between Wrocław and San Sebastian, the Wrocław´s twin European Capital of Culture 2016. Its aim is to look for common points between Polish and Basque cultures and to prepare space for undertaking creative activity and gaining practical artistic skills during workshops and cultural events. Each summer, during a 3-day long event, one forgotten localization in the city of Wrocław turns into the center of dialogue and exploration of the Basque culture.

Within the framework of Artist-in-Residency Programme A-i-R Wro, not only exhibitions but also meetings will be held at BASK 2016. Their aim is to summarize three years of residency exchange between the two European Capitals of Culture 2016 – San Sebastian and Wroclaw. The meetings will be attended by artists and representatives of institutions and organizations participating in the exchange. Their purpose is to gather experiences, summarize them and examine the impact the residences had on individual artists.

The Etxepare Basque Institute and the Donostia 2016 Foundation have taken six artists to Wroclaw in the past two editions: Matxalen de Pedro, Maialen Sarasua, Goiatz Labandibar, Ainara LeGardon, Jaime de los Rios and Eneko Gil. The two artists selected this year to develop projects are currently  in Wroclaw: Aitor Gametxo and Diego Vivanco.

Full program