Basque ethnography at a glance
Courtesy of Fernando Hualde.
Let us journey to Zuberoa, to Maule (Mauléon-Licharre) and its surroundings. Back in the years, 18th-century flax and hemp workers specialized in the manufacture of a very particular kind of footwear: espadrilles. And it would henceforth be espadrilles which put Maule on the map.
Due to a strong increase in demand by Basque migrants and northern French miners of once handcrafted espadrilles, the industry underwent a process of industrialization in the mid-19th century, recruitment of cross-border labour being necessary. (more…)
Iker Ugalde. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
It is grape harvest time in the Basque Country. Txakolin wine producers sample their grapes to check acidity levels, sugar content, and three or four other parameters, in search of optimal fruit maturity.
Home winemaking was once customary in our country. Most farmhouses would keep some vines, on orchard and field margins, typically, or in rows between cultivated fields, to make the so-called txakolina — a slightly sparkling, dry white wine— for their own consumption. A quarter of a century ago there would be just over a dozen hectares of vineyards in Bizkaia; today there are more than four hundred. (more…)
Ziortza Artabe Etxebarria. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
“Knucklebones play an important role in European ethnography since prehistoric times”, wrote Telesforo de Aranzadi a century ago. It is indeed one of many traditional children’s games which have been played generation after generation in different parts of the world.
The use of tarsal bones, typically of sheep, has been the usual practice in the Basque Country. Rum and goat knucklebones, much appreciated for being harder and shinier than lamb ones, have also been used. Pig and even cow bones have likewise been said to be saved for playing. (more…)
José Arrue. Digitized postcard (1). Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
The Madrid-based daily El Universal, published between 1820 and 1823, the so-called Liberal Triennium in which repression on the press, general during the reign of Ferdinand VII, somewhat decreased, reported on 9 September 1820, citing the fleetingly blooming Gipuzkoan liberal press of the time (more particularly El Liberal Guipuzcoano: a philosophical, literary and commercial periodical), an event which had occurred (it was said) in Bayonne a few days earlier: (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
