Archives
Amagoia Gezuraga.
The local parish would, in former times, be a common and reliable channel for folks to keep abreast of significant social life events in villages, towns and cities, far more than rumours and hearsay. Church attendance being a fundamental religious practice for the vast majority, especially on Sundays, due announcement would be made of impending marriages, the so-called banns, making the most of the occasion; the names of recently departed parishioners were likewise announced, and the day and time when masses were to be offered for them; and believe it or not, moral assessment of all films screened in community venues and cinemas was posted on the church door. (more…)
Grandmother and grandchildren. Urduliz (Bizkaia), 2011. Akaitze Kamiruaga. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
I was born and bred in a rural environment, as a fully integrated member of an agricultural community, and within a typical three-generational family structure of grandparents, parents and children. Our parents would spend their days farming and tending to livestock around the farmstead, so we were often in the care of our grandparents. They would teach us how to look after the smaller animals on the farm, to carry out simple chores out in the cultivated fields, to create our own toys, to pray, to sing, to play cards, and even more, they would delight us with their stories and wonderful tales, which we listened to in awe. (more…)
Picture from Aguirre Photographic Archive included in House and Family in the Basque Country.
When we talk about ethnography and oral transmission, it is almost inevitable to visualise an old-time family gathered around a fireplace and grandparents relating stories or folktales to an attentive child audience.
Time goes by, and the precious fire is stored within a heavy cast iron frame called kitchen stove, or simply stove, but the transmission process remains unchanged. Rural culture is gradually replaced by a predominantly urban society, the fireplace rapidly recedes in importance within the house, and the living room takes hold as a space in its own right. There we find our family, reduced in members now and totally absorbed by moving pictures, as fascinating as the fireplace flames of olden times, coming from a television set, the new storyteller. (more…)
Bilbo-Abando
Colon de Larreategi 14, 2. esk.48001 Bilbo (Bizkaia)
Tel.: +34 94 443 76 84
labayru@labayru.eus
Derio
Larrauri 1A, 5.a48160 Derio (Bizkaia)
Tel.: +34 94 406 01 71
idazkaritza@labayru.eus
Bilbo-Bolueta
Metroalde eraikinaBilbo-Galdakao errep. 6A
48004 Bilbo (Bizkaia)
Tel.: +34 94 607 72 10
labayru@labayru.eus
