International Day of Euskara celebrated in cities around the world with support from the Etxepare Basque Institute

Once again, the Etxepare Basque Institute joins in the celebrations surrounding the International Day of Euskara (Euskararen Internazioarteko Eguna) on December 3rd. The Institute’s Basque language and culture assistantships housed at universities around the world will host several activities to mark the event. Members of the Basque community in the diaspora and students of the Basque language and culture programmes will have the chance to join in the celebrations. The lectures, workshops, round table discussions and film screenings will be held in various locations across Europe and America, facilitated by the Institute´s international network of lectureships. This year’s these activities, some of which are already underway, are hosted in 13 cities including Berlin, Edinburgh, Bologna, Montevideo, Santiago, Poznan and Barcelona. A full list is provided below.

The International Day of Euskara was first celebrated in 1949, promoted by Eusko Ikaskuntza. Officially, however, celebrations, gatherings and other activities to celebrate the day began in 1995, when the Basque diaspora held its first world congress. The Basque Government and Euskaltzaindia considered it appropriate to declare 3 December as International Day of Euskara.

Below is a full list of this year´s activities:

Calabasas, California, USA

23 November (University of California Los Angeles)

Excursion to the city of Calabasas, founded by the Basque immigrant Miguel Leonis, and visit to its museum. Students will have the opportunity to see and ask questions about topics studied in class.

Barcelona, Spain

29 November (Universitat de Barcelona and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

In collaboration with the Euskal Etxea Basque centre and the Official School of Languages, students at both universities are invited to take part in a mintzodromo gathering to practice Basque.

Santiago, Chile

30 November (Universidad de Chile y Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile)

The language and culture assistants and the Santiago Euskal Etxea Basque centre host a mintzodromo gathering to practice Basque, as well as guided visits to the Euskal Etxea, games, dances, etc.

Brno, Czech Republic

1 December (Masarykova Univerzita)

Screening of the film ‘Errementari’ (2017, Paul Urkijo) at Kino Art Cinema.

Edinburgh, Scotland

1 December (University of Edinburgh)

The city´s Basque community has organised pintxo workshops, a quiz, a dance workshop and a concert. Dylan Inglis, Basque Language and Culture assistant at the University of Edinburgh, will give a talk.

Bologna, Italy

First week of December (Università di Bologna)

Screening of the film ‘Bertsolari’ (2011, Asier Altuna) and online chat with bertsolari Eli Zaldua.

Champaign, Illinois, USA

2 December (University of Illinois)

Presentation by Gorka Basterretxea on the sociolinguistic landscape of the Basque Country. Since 2019 Basterretxea has been compiling data on presence of the Basque language and researching public attitudes toward it.

Montevideo, Uruguay

3 December (Universidad de la República)

Screening of ‘Irati’ (2022, Paul Urkijo) and discussion. Overview of the current state of Euskara and challenges for the future by Jon Sarasua.

Poznan, Poland

3 December (Adam Mickiewicz University)

Presentations on Basque mythology studied in class and pintxo workshop.

Helsinki, Finland

4 December (University of Helsinki)

A poetry workshop in Basque with students aims to play with the language and promote literary creation by offering various perspectives that allow students to engage with the Basque language and languages in general.

Madrid, Spain

4 December (Universidad Complutense de Madrid)

Lecture on bertsolaritza by Xabier Amuriza. For Basque language and culture students at the university and open to the wider academic community.

La Plata, Argentina

6 December (Universidad Nacional de la Plata)

The university’s Basque Language and Culture programme and the Euskal Etxea host a mintzodromo gathering to practice Basque, as well as games at the university and a musical dinner at the La Plata Euskal Etxea Basque centre.

Berlin, Germany

6-10 December (Freie Unviersität Berlin)

On 6 December, Dylan Inglis, Basque Language and Culture assistant at the University of Edinburgh, will give a language workshop for members of the Euskal Etxea Basque centre in Berlin.

On 10 December, Dylan Inglis will offer a talk and workshop on Basque dialects (euskalkiak) and standard Euskara (euskara batua) to students of Basque sociolinguistics at the Freie Universität.