The image and motto of the next edition of the Durango Fair has been presented at a press conference on Wednesday 16 October in the Landako space that hosts the fair. In the 59th edition, and close to the total number, the president of the association Gerediaga, Nerea Mujika, thanked the organizers of previous editions and, with a special mention, reminded Jon Irazabal, who has been director of the fair for 30 years, recently deceased. An emotion invades Mujika and those present applaud.

Thanks to his work from the past, Mujika has defined the current Durango Fair as “powerful”: “In all these years we have been drawing the first dreams and seeing the image we have created: colorful, varied, strong and beautiful, indeed.” Still, he stressed that the Basque Country “still needs this work”, that the Basque country “does not need any hindrances or sentences”, but “broad avenues for all of us to fit”.

Growing up is DA!

The coordinator of the Durango Fair, BEÑAT Gaztelurrutia, has highlighted that receiving culture is "a way to turn society around" and that culture in Basque will also contribute to living in Basque and in a stronger Basque country.

In any case, Gaztelurrutia has highlighted that he sees imbalances in the scale of creators and recipients: “We know that creation in Basque is very rich, but it does not have enough receptors in its people. There is the need at the moment and the Durango Fair will make an effort to respond to that, because coming, seeing, taking… it is also a blow to culture”. In his opinion, as “reading if not writing”, “listening is singing”, “seeing representing”... and being at the Durango Fair, “betting on the Basque culture”. So last year, the online store retired, and as it worked well, this year it will also be, in favor of the classroom.

“Innovative” poster

According to the organizers of the fair, this year’s trade fair poster is “innovative from different points of view”. First, because two authors, Udatxo and Balu, have done so. Durangoko Azoka has highlighted that a work of art has been created in many layers and that this piece has been integrated into the poster.

On the poster, Udatxo and Balu have drawn some hands, as they work with their hands. And they've worked with their hands at the very moment of the presentation. He grabbed the paintbrush and drew Luke, while Udatxo spoke: PRESIDENT. — The next item is the report (Doc.

They have also been based on posters taken from the street and the newspaper library: musical posters, old literary performances, past editions of the Durango Fair... They've been given a collage, and that's how it came out. They see in them the form of a heart and have linked it to them to tell them: “The Durango Fair is a heart for the Basque and the Basque culture.”

In the poster you can find Negu gorriak, Hertzainak, Alaitz eta Maider, Etzakit, Mikel Laboa.. and many other references. Both authors will sign the poster at the fair.

Completing the Programme

For four days, from 5 to 8 December, several presentations of books and records, lectures and workshops will be held around the Durango fair. The organisers have committed themselves to the programme being "comprehensive", although they have not made any progress, as work is being done on it.

The DA!PRO meeting will be held on 26 and 27 November, another year, to promote collaboration between creators and programmers. Information on it in durangokoazoka.eus.

Government representative: “The Durango Fair is strategic”

“It is a benchmark for public-private collaboration,” said Basque Government Vice-Minister for Culture, Andoni Iturbe. Iturbe has been the last to speak between public institutions, and the only one who has participated in the debate has been the Basque and the Spanish.

“The Basque Country is a living territory,” said Iturbe, and given a fact: About 20,000 cultural activities are programmed per year in Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. And, according to Iturbe, the governments of three territories work in three areas: creators and creatives, production and showcase. The Durango Fair is, according to Iturbe, the axis of this last area: “It is absolutely strategic to have such a fair to show a market, to make visible the work done throughout the year.”

Iturbe closed with one last idea: “We have been the recipients of a legacy and it is up to us to manage the current one. We have to manage the future and we have to think about it.”