Irene Larraza to be the new director of the Etxepare Basque Institute

Irene Larraza, current Director of Cultural Promotion and Dissemination of the Etxepare Basque Institute, will be the new head of Etxepare in January. Larraza will take over from Miren Arzalluz, who will be leaving at the end of the year to direct Palais Galliera, the Paris museum of fashion.

Irene Larraza, current Director of Cultural Promotion and Dissemination of the Etxepare Basque Institute, will be the new head of Etxepare in January. Larraza will take over from Miren Arzalluz, who will be leaving at the end of the year to direct Palais Galliera, the Paris museum of fashion.

Irene Larraza (Tolosa, 1970) holds a degree in Communication Sciences from the University of Navarra and has an extensive track record in the area of culture. She has held several positions of responsibility in the areas of communication and cultural management. She began her career as a radio newscaster and editor at Herri Irratia, where she worked for three years. She then spent three years as head of Promotion and Dissemination for the Koldo Mitxelena Kulturunea cultural centre in San Sebastian, and eight years as head of Promotion, Communication and Publishing for Syntorama, an agency that represents musicians. From 2008 to 2012, Larraza worked for the city of Tolosa as Coordinator and Director of Culture. Since 2012, she has been with the Etxepare Basque Institute, first as Head of Communication, and since November 2016 Director of Cultural Promotion and Dissemination.

With this new assignment, the Basque Government Department of Language Policy and Culture wants to continue the project initiated one year ago with Miren Arzalluz by putting Etxepare in the hands of someone who is very familiar with the institute itself, the cultural fabric and needs of the Basque Country, and with the project laid out by her predecessor