Etxepare and Euskal Etxeas from around the world, among 400 voices of continuous reading in the Arriaga Theater

The continuous reading event organized every year by ‘Bilbo Zaharra’, the Bilbao-based euskaltegi (Basque language school) celebrated its 11th edition yesterday at the Arriaga Theater. The book KRESALA (1906) by Txomin Agirre was read out loud continuously, divided into 400 passages. Sixteen of them were read by representatives of 33 Euskal Etxeas, or Basque Centers, from around the world, part of the ´Euskara Munduan´ network.

The continuous reading event organized every year by ‘Bilbo Zaharra’, the Bilbao-based euskaltegi (Basque language school) celebrated its 11th edition yesterday at the Arriaga Theater. The book KRESALA (1906) by Txomin Agirre was read out loud continuously, divided into 400 passages. Sixteen of them were read by representatives of 33 Euskal Etxeas, or Basque Centers, from around the world, part of the ´Euskara Munduan´ network.

Four hundred voices from representatives of Basque culture were in charge of the reading. Among them were Irene Larraza, director of the Etxepare Basque Institute, and Bingen Zupiria, Minister of Culture and Linguistic Policy of the Basque Government. Diverse voices from Basque music and the arts also participated, including singer Natxo de Felipe and writer Mariasun Landa. The first and last passages were read respectively by author and poet Kirmen Uribe, and members of the Bilbo Zaharra euskaltegi.

The Basque diaspora also had its place in the reading, opening the event around the globe: 33 Euskal Etxeas (Basque centers) from around the world belonging to the ´Euskara Munduan´ program, overseen by the Etxepare Basque Institute since January 2018, read a total of 16 passages via video. The Euskal Etxeas had already been involved in the first edition of the continuous reading, and over the years their presence has grown stronger, bringing an international dimension to the event.

This year the selected work was KRESALA: in addition to being a classic, the choice was a nod to bizkaiera, the euskalki or dialect of the Basque language of Vizcaya.