Suns Europe 2022: Sara Zozaya + ‘Bestaldean’

Art, fusion, talent, linguistic pluralism, creativity! Once again Suns Europe is all of this! The minority language arts festival is ready to bring again to Friuli music, cinema, theatre and literature in the minority languages of the Old Continent.

Pursuing its mission - ‘Right to language, right to diversity’, which means working to “promote contemporary artistic productions in European minority languages with the aim of supporting the building of a different Europe, united in diversity, founded on rights, pluralism, respect and collaboration” - this year the opening act of the festival will be in the heart of Udine on June 30, and the summer programme will continue until July 15.

The festival will be touring again this year, involving eight municipalities of Friuli (Artegna, Cormons, Fagagna, Mortegliano, Moruzzo, Pozzuolo del Friuli, Romans d’Isonzo, Udine) in eleven events (and more to come in autumn!).There will be no shortage of international artists this summer, with guests coming from Occitania, Sardinia, Wales and the Basque Country.

Those are the Basque artists performing in the festival:

Book presentation: ‘Bestaldean’, Jaione Dorai & Ernesto Prat
2022.07.13 / 18:00 / Libreria Tarantola

Despite some 2,500 Basque political exiles had to flee from their homeland between 1960 and 2010, enduring different living conditions in different countries, their stories remained unknown for a long time, even among a big part of the Basque society. Becoming nameless shadows was a necessity to avoid repression – and even to survive. ‘Bestaldean. Euskal iheslari politikoen bizipenak’ (Txalaparta, 2022) – On the Other Side. Stories of Basque political exiles – attempts to understand what lies behind these shadows. Through interviews and other testimonies, the book takes us on a journey “to the other side”: the side of exile or clandestinity, of pain and solidarity, of the struggle to live free and the dream of eventually returning to one’s homeland.

Concert: Sara Zozaya
2022.07.14 / 21:00 / Library courtyard, Romans d’Isonzo

In the galaxy of the immense Basque music scene, this young singer-songwriter from Donostia is certainly one of the brightest stars. A handful of intimate ballads with a nostalgic flavour. A perfect voice resting on dream-pop atmospheres. An original band with a magnetic and innovative sound: these are the star ingredients that make Sara Zozaya one of the most promising emerging artists of the Basque Country.

Concert: Sara Zozaya + Cjançons dal Cormôr
2022.07.15 / 21:00 / Piazza Libertà

In addition to Sara Zozaya´s performance, the great ‘reverse strike’ that inflamed the Friulian lowlands in 1950 is celebrated on stage by eight Friulian singer-songwriters of the old and new generation in an enthralling folk-rock show.