‘Oroitzapenak-Mémoires y Más’, the first academic project of the course involving students, teachers and staff members
Date
18 September 2023
‘Oroitzapenak-Mémoires y Más’, the first academic project of the course involving students, teachers and staff members
On Friday 15 September, the 10th edition of this landscape intervention took place within the framework of the L’ARTha art festival as part of the Heritage Days in Saint-Jean-de-Luz.
This transversal project linked to Land Art was designed and is led each year by the Teacher Susana Záldivar, and carried out by the students, teachers and staff members themselves. In collaboration with IED Kunsthal Bilbao, the Saint-Jean-de-Luz municipal council grants a space for the intervention: the bay of Saint-Barbe; an idyllic spot on the French-Basque coast.
The project for this 10th edition of ‘Oroitzapenak-Mémoires y Más’ [‘Memories and More’], is a tribute to the people who are no longer with us, to our loved ones; a collective call to spirituality that is materialised in the form of a prehistoric ritual, through the creation of a series of cromlechs generated by pieces of wood that have been recycled or saved from refuse. The project involves the prior and personal involvement of the students and other participants, who each contribute a piece with a private meaning that they have personalised that, in turn, make up the cromlechs.
‘Oroitzapenak-Mémoires y Más’ invites the visitor to make an intimate reflection on the empty spaces left by people who have departed, the feeling of absence, farewells, the emotional bonds between people, and the ancestral need of human beings — which is increasingly unmet — to cultivate spirituality, understood in its most universal form.
The students and other participants experienced a unique and exciting first day of the new academic year, revolving around an artistic, collective activity, closely linked to the landscape, which welcomed the first-year students, newcomers to IED Kunsthal Bilbao, in a warm and friendly way.
Video summary of the day
A student poses with their piece