Basque ethnography at a glance
Wheat field in Zeanuri (Bizkaia), 1981. Ander Manterola.
Now we are used to having bread any time, any day, anywhere, but it was not always so.
Before the 1950s, when wheat was still cultivated in our fields, the entire seed-to-loaf bread-making process was long and arduous. Every July during threshing the best grain was saved for seed. Wheat seeds were soaked (beratu) in water and later mixed with lime to get rid of rust (ludoia). They were kept in lime for three to four days before storing them in the loft. (more…)
Courtesy of Sonia Rueda.
Xabier Sáenz de Gorbea (Las Arenas 1951 – Bilbao 2015), Gure Artea Prize laureate in 2012, soon became a major presence on the Basque art scene, due perhaps to his work capacity, which allowed him to develop his influence and expand his knowledge on multiple levels. (more…)
Sunset. Valley of Carranza (Bizkaia), 2006. Luis Manuel Peña. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
The Sun and the Moon are said to have been husband and wife. Once upon a time the new Moon was shining in the early evening sky and the Sun setting when he said full of pride:
“See the Earth more beautiful every day!”
“She sure is!” replied the Moon. (more…)
With the grandchildren. Zeanuri (Bizkaia), c. 1910. Felipe Manterola Collection. Labayru Fundazioa Photographic Archive.
During our years of experience writing the Ethnographic Atlas of the Basque Country, we have learned about the many changes that occurred in the 1960s and 1970s which meant a clean break with the past.
Those, let us recall, were decades of enormous tension and rising social movements in the international arena. This past spring we commemorated the 50th anniversary of May 1968 protests by workers, intellectuals, students… initiated across France and echoed around the world. The said events entailed wide repercussions, some of them quite painful, in Mexico (Tlatelolco), Praga, China (Cultural Revolution), California (Berkeley)… Within the Church the implementation of the Second Vatican Council (1965–1975) made a decisive impact on the spiritual attitude of the faithful, the growth of secularization and a decrease in religious vocations resulting from it. (more…)
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