The lineup for the performers and companies vying for the Max Awards for the Performing Arts were released this week. Among them are three Basque dance companies, Zanguango teatro, Barsanti and Kukai, as well as actor and director Iñaki Rikarte and stage designer Fernando Bernués. The awards ceremony will take place on September 7 in Malaga.

Most of the workers at the Etxepare Basque Institute returned to our Tabakalera office on Monday, May 11, following the Basque Government’s orders as we enter the second stage of the state of emergency.

Basque cinema will be represented at one of the world’s foremost animation competitions, held this year online from June 15th to 30th, with two films supported by the Basque Government. The selected titles are Homeless Home, directed by Alberto Vázquez and Lursaguak. Escenas de vida, by Izibene Oñederra.

Supported by the Etxepare Basque Institute, the Manuel Irujo Chair at the University of Liverpool began the Manuel Irujo Scholarship in Basque Studies in 2019. From now until June 15, students are invited to apply for the 2020 scholarship.

Given the measures established by the Spanish Government to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we want you to know that the Etxepare Basque Institute will remain open, although we will be working partially from home. During this quarantine it will be business as usual in our mission to disseminate Basque culture. We remain at your service. 

As we all know, the emergency situation caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) has radically altered people’s lives in different countries, from the economy to leisure. In the same way, several international cultural events, fairs and festivals in which the Etxepare Basque Institute takes part have been cancelled or postponed.  

Several Basque books were translated and published in 2019 thanks to subsidies from the Etxepare Basque Institute. The Institute provided grants for 14 translations of Basque works, amounting to a total of €33,346.

The finalists of each category in the 2020 MIN Awards for independent Spanish music were announced yesterday. At the ceremony to be held on March 11, the Etxepare Prize for Best Album in Basque will be decided among the following groups: Doctor Deseo, Maite Larburu, Niña Coyote eta Chico Tornado, Zea Mays and Zetak.

Tomorrow the Etxepare Basque Institute will participate in a meeting of professionals in Bayonne organized by OARA, the artistic office of the French region of Nouvelle Aquitaine.

The ARCO International Contemporary Art Fair is back in Madrid on February 26. Once again, there will only be one Basque gallery at the event: the Bilbao-based Carreras Múgica. Nevertheless, other galleries will also exhibit pieces by Basque artists at the fair.