Bertsolarismo and Basque feminism at Iberian and Latin American Week in Liverpool

Iberian and Latin American Week in Liverpool is back once again. From October 28 to November 1, the University of Liverpool and the city itself will host a variety of activities to celebrate Iberian and Latin American culture. Two of these activities will focus on Basque culture, a ‘tele-bertsolaritza’ session and a lecture.

Iberian and Latin American Week in Liverpool is back once again. From October 28 to November 1, the University of Liverpool and the city itself will host a variety of activities to celebrate Iberian and Latin American culture. Two of these activities will focus on Basque culture, a ‘tele-bertsolaritza’ session and a lecture.

The events revolving around Basque culture will take place on October 30, starting at 11:00 am at the University with a session of tele-bertsolaritza. Participants will first be shown What is bertsolaritza?, a short film created to explain this artistic phenomenon to people outside the Basque Country. Afterward, over Skype, the bertsolari Germán Urteaga will explain bertsolaritza, the process of creating improvised sung verses, and present a bertso session. There will be time at the end for questions and answers.

At 12 noon, PhD student and researcher Nancy Francis will give a lecture entitled ‘Feminist Spring’, in which she will explain her research on feminism conducted during her time in the Basque Country. Francis will talk about new paths emerging in the feminist movement in the Basque Country and how the movement is developing. She will also share the audiovisual material compiled in her two-year field study in our country.

Iberian and Latin American Week is organized by the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at the University of Liverpool. The event will take place over the course of five days at both on the University campus and at different venues in the city. Activities range from conferences to workshops to cultural events to tastings of different types of food.