Etxepare Basque Institute sets its sights on the French-speaking world to promote Basque culture abroad

‘Ça colle au basque’ (literally, Basque ‘sticks to me’, a popular expression in French to describe something you can´t get out of your head) is the initiative that the Etxepare Basque Institute has launched for the next four years to promote the visibility of Basque culture in the French-speaking world (Francophonie) – a mosaic of languages, cultures, and identities, 321 million strong, whose common language is French.

The project was presented at Zarautz Palace in Getaria in a working session with more than fifty representatives from the cultural sector and institutional bodies. In attendance were Ibone Bengoetxea, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Culture and Language Policy of the Basque Government (Euskadi); Maël Solen Picard, Director of the Québec Office in Barcelona; Yves Kordian, Deputy Director of Malandain Ballet Biarritz; and Irene Larraza, Director of the Etxepare Basque Institute.

‘Ça colle au basque’ aims to promote Basque culture and elevate the Basque language by increasing its visibility and understanding in the French-speaking world through strategic partnerships and inter-institutional collaboration. It advocates for achieving this through dialogue with the languages, cultures, and identities that make up this community, staying true to its commitment to fostering a world where diversity is seen as a unifying force.

To this end, the Etxepare Basque Institute focuses on building, developing, and strengthening connections with organisations across various French-speaking regions, leveraging the international reach of this community. 

The initiative is also dedicated to raising awareness and enhancing the prestige of the Basque language by promoting its presence in academic circles, fostering new synergies between creators and universities, and highlighting the reality of Basque in the context of diglossia and its relationship with dominant languages.

Four lines of work

The ‘Ça colle au basque’ initiative will be developed around four pillars. Firstly, the Basque language and creative talent will be consolidated in the dynamics and projects that the Etxepare Basque Institute already promotes in the French-speaking world, including three festivals: Québec en toutes lettres (Quebec, Canada), Fest´Arts (Libourne, France) and Foire du Livre de Bruxelles (Brussels, Belgium), among others.

Secondly, new funding opportunities will be introduced to support the participation of Basque creators and professionals in key fairs, festivals, and cultural and artistic events in French-speaking regions, as well as to enhance their presence in the publishing sector. The main initiatives include a line of funding for Basque literature publishing projects in Francophonie, as well as specific aid for participation in performing arts fairs such as Cinars Biennale (Montreal, Canada) and Rideau: L´Association professionnelle des diffuseurs de spectacle (Quebec, Canada). A new edition of the ‘Itzultzaile Berriak - Nouveaux Traducteurs’ is also slated for 2026. The project is aimed at creating a network of translators of Basque literature abroad. In this edition, the focus will be on translation into French.

Thirdly, cooperation will be strengthened with cultural and institutional stakeholders in Iparralde (Northern Basque Country), which serves as a natural bridge between Basque and French-speaking cultures. Given their shared linguistic reality and institutional framework, these connections have great potential to serve as a gateway to the broader French-speaking world. A notable project here is the collaboration between the Etxepare Basque Institute and Malandain Ballet Biarritz, developed within the framework of the Maitaldia festival. This initiative aims to showcase the most outstanding Basque stage productions to cultural programmers from across the French-speaking world.

Lastly, ‘Ça colle au basque’ will reinforce the academic field in which the Etxepare Basque Institute is already working, creating new opportunities to promote the Basque language and Basque studies at partner universities. The Institute is currently collaborating with the Sorbonne and Sorbonne Nouvelle universities on a conference about translation in diglossic sociolinguistic contexts within the French-speaking world. The event is scheduled to take place in November in Paris.