Debate on the Basque conflict on the Aretxabaleta campus
Debate on the Basque conflict on the Aretxabaleta campus
Debate on the Basque conflict on the Aretxabaleta campus
Aintzane Ezenarro, Gorka Espiau, Jon Moñux and Mario Zubiaga participated in a round table entitled “Through the rearview mirror: the recent past, present and future of the Basque Country” (“Atzerako ispilutik: Euskal Herriaren iragan hurbila, oraina eta geroa”). The event is one of the activities organized under the Basque Government’s Plan for Coexistence, Human Rights and Diversity.
On October 11, students on Mondragon University’s Aretxabaleta Communication campus participated in a round table on the Basque conflict entitled Through the rearview mirror: the recent past, present and future of the Basque Country. Aintzane Ezenarro (Director of Gogora), Gorka Espiau (Director of the Agirre Lehendakaria Center), Jon Moñux (member of Argituz) and Mario Zubiaga (professor at the University of the Basque Country) took part in the event. Ane Zuazubiskar, alumna of Mondragon University and journalist for Basque Radio, was the Chair of the conference.
The event is part of the module entitled The contemporary world and its representation, but it was open to all students in the Audiovisual Communication degree program. In the aforementioned module, the students worked on the recent past and reviewed the main events of the last few decades, beginning with the Cold War and ending with the war in Ukraine. In their review of historical events, the group of students focused especially on how those events were narrated and represented in the world of communication and the audiovisual. After studying the international context, the students addressed the recent past in the Basque Country.
Round table
Today’s round table was organized in three main parts. First, there was a critical reading of what happened in the Basque Country. Aintzane Ezenarro insisted on the need to carry out a sincere analysis of what happened and the need to know the past; Ezenarro added that “if to this knowledge we add the ethical sieve, we will see that violence is not the way.”
Jon Moñux, for his part, based his presentation on the work Toward a Shared Memory, published by Argituz Elkartea. In his presentation, he shared the events that took place in Arrasate between 1956 and 2018.
Gorka Espiau, for his part, reflected on created narratives. In Espiau’s words, “we thought that narratives changed by using better arguments than the opponent, but we’ve learned that by creating safe spaces for dialogue, we can connect with the arguments of others, creating meta-narratives.”
Next, the speakers focused on current events. Along these lines, Mario Zubiaga reclaimed “a solid memory of suffering,” believing that such a memory can be a “means to heal wounds.”
Lastly, the participants discussed the future. For his part, Mario Zubiaga underlined the need to develop “democratic ways to avoid conflict.” Zubiaga also revealed that there is a significant generation gap. In this sense, and from the point of view of communication, Espiau addressed the students to encourage them to allow the stories they’re creating to emerge: “it’s interesting to see it from your perspective.” Espiau concluded by saying that the perspective of new generations is needed in order to be able to see the links created among stories, and so that real transformation processes can take place. The event ended with an exchange of ideas between students and speakers.
Opportunity to meet with two victims
Additionally, and as part of Gogora’s program Adi-adian, Audiovisual Communication students had the opportunity to share space with two victims. On October 6, they had the opportunity to hear Alberto Muñagorri and, on October 10, Olatz Etxabe.
Both today’s discussion and the previous talks are part of the Basque Government’s Plan for Coexistence, Human Rights and Diversity.