Seminar on Gernika at Iberian and Latin American Week, University of Liverpool

The University of Liverpool has organized a week dedicated to the cultures of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula from 29 October to 4 November. Over the course of six days a host of events will bring students a little closer to the cultures, traditions, history, languages, music and cinema from different countries and bring them in contact with a diverse range of practitioners and creative producers.

The University of Liverpool has organized a week dedicated to the cultures of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula from 29 October to 4 November. Over the course of six days a host of events will bring students a little closer to the cultures, traditions, history, languages, music and cinema from different countries and bring them in contact with a diverse range of practitioners and creative producers.

Basque Studies will also be included in the programme with a seminar entitled: ´Lobak (Grandchildren): preserving the memory of the bombing of Gernika two generations after’, organized bythe Basque Language and Culture Readership at the University of Liverpool.

Lobak is a cultural initiative launched by the grandchildren of the survivors of the bombing of Gernika. It was founded in 2012, during the 75th anniversary of the bombing. The aim of the initiative is to work on several creative fields, with the bombing as the central theme.

The members of Lobak are the last generation that has received the testimonies of what happened the 26th of April 1937 directly from the survivors. Their grandparents told them what they witnessed and now it is up to their grandchildren, Lobak, to tell their story. Their message is clear: they have had enough with one “Gernika” even though the World hasn’t been able to understand it, and the grandchildren of the Gernika of 1937 will continue to use art, music, culture and creativity to make history, instead of using weapons and bombs.

In this act, Maitane Uriarte and Itxaso Amunategi, both granchildren of those who suffered the bombing in 1937, will introduce the initiative Lobak and talk about their aims. Besides, during the act, the documentary Gernika.Markak (2016) will be screened in Basque with English subtitles.