DESERT SOUNDS
This summer Groove Parade will flood again the dessert with sweat. Electronic music and non stop dancing to combat boredom and dust in Los Monegros...
FREEPLAY. ENERGETIC INDEPENDENCE
Energy doesn't get to many parts of Africa. In order to try and find a solution to this problem two young entrepreneurs have founded a company called Freeplay that offers work to prisoners in South Africa. They started off by manufacturing torches and radios that didn't use electricity or batteries. And these gadgets have been really successful to boot. Freeplay offer all kinds of thingamajigs that use solar or hand-generated power. Check 'em out at:
JAZZ AT THE BE BOP
We have often heard that if you leave the massive commercial festivals out of the count, the jazz circuit is almost inexistent in the Basque Country. Well, not for long buckos: the Be- Bop-Bar in Donostia aims to put a stop to that and has set about organising lots of jazz shows. Fans will soon be able to enjoy jazz feasts put on by local musicians.
MANIFESTA (FROM JUNE TO SEPTEMBER)
Political rumour / cultural landscape / present imperfect / ruins in reverse / zones of contingency / underconstruction / spiritual noises / project and accusation / landscape manual / encounter with ambiguity / city folded over onto itself / two-way mirror / double exposure / bipolar city / power of identity / potemkin village / staged matrix / trickland / silent factory
ARTIUM
Swallowed by Laocoonte. Artium have organised an exhibition under the title of "Art and Political Violence" which looks at the political power, antipowers- that-be forces and legal and illegally induced threats and deaths. This exhibition could have been set up in any part of the world according to the organisers, and The Basque Country is a part of the world... isn't it?
THANKS...
Invited to do so by Consonni (www.consonni.org), Itziar Okariz recently filmed the video clip for the artist Begoña in May. More than a hundred people met up at the Rontegi Bridge and accompanied Begoña on her way to the Portugalete Bridge. You can see the end result in the clip of the song "Thanks" by this very-soon-to-be-huge pop-star.
THE SURF SCHOOL AND OPEN ZONE (DONOSTIA, JUNE 26-27/JULY 8-11)
The surf instructor Rip Curl has organised a girls' surf-school in the Zurriola strand, which will take place on June 26-27th. And don’t panic, surf teachers are not nuns For inscriptions and further information log on Pukas:
FISH EYE
The Fish-eye project is a proof that a photograph can be something more than a combination of time and light. The Fish-eye group bring out the documentary value of photography and also they offer here a series of photos rejected by magazines, for different reasons. The visit to their site is worthwhile:
UPTIGHT65
Ooookey! For those of you that like to pump iron in the gym there are Uptight 65 T-shirts. However, a little note: once you put your Uptight 65 tee-shirt on, it won't be easy to find an excuse to take it off... you'll realize straight away that the T-shirts are nicer than your bare flesh...
FARENHEIT 9/11
In the 48 years of the Cannes Film Festival only two documentaries have made it into the official section : first it was Michael Moore's ¨Bowling for Columbine" and the second, also by Michael Moore, the censored ¨Farenheit 9/11¨ . When news of the acceptance reached Moore he said "it's a great honour to be chosen, as it comes from the French, our most bitter enemies". At least, it will reach our cinema screens.
JULY THE 7TH, SAN FERMIN
On the one hand, prevision and preparation, and on the other, useful information, hangovers and scenes of mayhem while the carnage of the San Fermin festival lasts. It's San Fermines all year round at the unofficial home of the fest. These guys just never get around to taking off their little red neckerchiefs.
