2019 in numbers: Plastic and Visual Arts

One of the main goals of the Etxepare Basque Institute is to promote the many Basque artistic disciplines among international audiences. Year after year, the Institute uses different tools to achieve this goal. The 2019 in numbers series allows us to draw attention to our work in different artistic disciplines. Today we turn the spotlight on Basque plastic and visual arts.

The Institute disseminates the work of Basque visual and plastic artists internationally. It especially promotes the participation of Basque artists in contemporary art centers and big events. It also promotes exchanges and artistic stays of interest for the creation and dissemination of Basque artists. In addition, each year it offers grants for these artists to show their work in exhibitions and fairs abroad.

Last year Basque windows were organized to make Basque visual and plastic arts visible in events of international relevance. As every year, two artists were selected to carry out the AIR Wro artistic research stay in the Polish city of Wroclaw: Raisa Alava and Eneka Fernández. Likewise, Tana Garrido was in residence in Havana as part of the Artista x Artista program; and a photographic exhibition by Juantxo Rubio and Ignacio Puerta was organized at the Le Rocher de Palmer center in Bordeaux.

The Institute also started a new project in 2019 for the international promotion of the plastic and visual arts: the ZABAL project. Its goal is to invite curators, art critics and museum directors to the Basque Country to learn about the context of Basque contemporary art, offer new opportunities to Basque artists and strengthen their links with the international context. In 2019, the project received the first visit: the curator of the São Paulo biennial, Ruth Estévez.

In addition, last year the Etxepare Basque Institute offered two modalities of grants in the Visual and Plastic Arts sector: grants for mobility and grants to participate in art fairs. The former served to support projects of international exhibitions of visual and plastic artists: 43 grants have been distributed with a total amount of 60,000 euros. With the second, Basque art galleries have been aided to rent stands at international professional fairs. 9 galleries were benefited by these grants in 2019, with a total amount of 41,000 euros.