Flemish and Basque culture come together in Flanders - Euskadi

Today the Etxepare Basque Institute presented the cultural exchange project "Vlaanderen - Baskenland" or "Flanders - Euskadi" at the Tabakalera International Centre for Contemporary Culture in Donostia/San Sebastián. The Basque Government´s Minister for Culture and Language Policy Bingen Zupiria, Etxepare Basque Institute director Irene Larraza, Flemish Minister-President Jan Jambon, general director of Tabakalera Edurne Ormazabal, and general director of Dantzaz Fernando Sáenz de Ugarte provided details on the programme, which is already in progress and set to continue through 2024.

This project has a dual purpose. The first is to foster collaboration among cultural stakeholders and encourage experimentation and mutual learning, and the second is to collaboratively develop tangible cultural proposals that showcase the quality and innovative nature of creative endeavours in both regions.

 
The initiative, which focuses on culture, contemporary creation and language, includes a wide range of multidisciplinary activities. It will also It will also foster collaboration between cultural stakeholders, artists, creators, and cultural industries through a diverse program encompassing over eleven projects from various fields. This cultural project is the outcome of a two-year relationship. In 2021 and 2022, working visits were organised to Euskadi and Flanders to learn about the Basque and Flemish cultural and creative ecosystem and to facilitate connections between the various actors involved in collaboration with the Office of the Basque Presidency, the Flanders Department of Culture and the Flanders Arts Institute. This year, the Basque and Flemish governments have also launched several calls for proposals to promote cultural cooperation between the two regions. Most of the selected projects are the outcome of these working visits.

Today, the first initiatives were unveiled today of a programme that anticipates a rise in the number of activities for the upcoming year.