On Friday, June 7, the first phase of the Basque Centre will be opened in the old herring tanks in Djúpavík. On this occasion, there will be a program in Djúpavík related to the history of the Basques in Iceland in cooperation with partners in the Basque regions of Spain and France. Albaola in Spain and Haizebegi in France, that together with the Icelandic Basque Association, organize events in the three countries, pay tribute to the Basque cultural heritage and establish a Basque Centre in Djúpavík. The University Centre of the Westfjords is also a partner in the project with an emphasis on the coexistence of man and the sea and sustainability. The Icelandic Basque Association also collaborates with the Factory art exhibition in Djúpavík and with the Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft and the Research Centre of the University of Iceland in the Strandir area.
On Thursday, June 6, there will be an open workshop on making musical instruments from trash in Djúpavík. The goal is to promote sustainability and reuse while connecting with Basque cultural heritage. Seafood is also a part of the project. The Intelligent Instruments Lab at the Iceland University of the Arts and the Icelandic Basque Association organize the studio in collaboration with the Factory art exhibition in Djúpavík. Intelligent Instruments Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory that examines the role of artificial intelligence in new instruments and has worked with the Basque instrument txalaparta and held workshops on that instrument in the Strandir area. At the end of the day, a replica of a Basque “txalupa” will be placed on display in the herring tank. A workshop on the construction of the light boat will be held 3-5 June at the Iðan educational center in Reykjavík.
On Friday, June 7 and Saturday, June 8, there will be a Symposium in English in Djúpavík about the history of the Basques in Iceland, in the presence of French ambassador Guillaume Bazard and Spanish charge d´affaires José Carlos Esteso Lema. The goal of the symposium is to promote further knowledge of Icelandic scientists and those working in the creative sectors about the history of the Basques in Iceland and to connect Icelandic and Basque cultural heritage.
The main speakers at the Symposium will be both national and international scholars, among others Xabier Agote, director of Albaola in the Basque region of Spain, who will tell about the secrets of the Basque light boats, “txalupa”. Historian Magnús Rafnsson talks about the effect of the relations with the Basques on the local people, and archaeologist Ragnar Edvardsson maps the presence of the Basques in the Strandir area, on land and in the sea. Ragnar excavated at Strákatangi near Hveravík in the Strandir area, where relics of the Basque existence have been found. Trausti Einarsson tells about the whaling of the Basques off Iceland and Sigurður Sigursveinsson tells about Selma Barkham’s research on the whaling of the Basques off Labrador and Iceland. Tapio Koivukari will speculate on cooperation between Icelanders and Basque whalers in earlier centuries in fishing and processing, and Alex Tyas and Catherine Chambers will discuss maritime cultural heritage as a social development tool. Denis Laborde, director of the Haizebegi festival in the Basque region of France, will give a talk about Basque music, and Thor Magnússon will give a talk about the history and development of musical instruments.
On Saturday June 8 Viola Miglio will give a talk about the Basque-Icelandic dictionaries and Zuhaitz Akizu will present a Basque-Icelandic dictionary that is in progress.
Ólafur J. Engilbertsson tells about the Icelandic Basque Association and the Creative Europe Project, and Héðinn Ásbjörnsson, chairman of the Basque Centre, presents the mansion, as well as Þórarinn Blöndal, exhibition designer, tells about the Basque Centre´s exhibition. Finally, Imanol Mendi will introduce Basque cuisine and serve “pintxos”, Basque small dishes, at the end of the program on Friday, June 7 at 5:00 p.m., when the first phase of the Basque Center’s exhibition will be opened in the old herring tanks in Djúpavík with concerts by Basque and Icelandic musicians.