Where does that “Equidistancia” come from?

I did high school in Italy, and in the world art lesson we had there, I became passionate about oriental art. When it came to choosing college, I wanted to go to the United States to study international politics and diplomacy. There I sent my requests and I got into a college, but then I realized that that wasn't for me, because I love politics less and less and I decided to take something that I liked. I thought the art of international relations is very important, because through it you know culture and through it people and their history. We know a lot about Western art, but nothing else. Here, Japanese art is highly appreciated and much is said about it, but we don't know or ask about Chinese art. It's a terrible country. It has thousands of years of history and many cultural manifestations: There are 56 ethnic groups, each with their culture and languages. In addition, I started studying Chinese because knowing the language is easier to learn art, read books about it and talk to artists. Now I'm going to do the fourth and last year, and then the thesis. The topic I'm going to address is the idea that London's second-generation Chinese artists have about their identity and how they reflect it in their work. The Chinese are a very large community, but artists are not many and among them there are all kinds of attitudes: some know Chinese, there are people who have never been in China, some are very idealized… Of all.

He left Burlada at the age of 16 to do high school in Italy at a special school. What was it like?

For me, it was a kind of lottery. When I was 11 years old, I saw in a newspaper the announcement of scholarships. The United World Colleges Foundation (UWC) or World Union of Schools (UWC) has a project to promote pacifism through cultural diversity. In this regard, it grants ten scholarships annually to study high school in different places in the world and in specific educational centers. My mother told me to wait until I was 15, and I did. Presented with thousands of people, I was lucky and I was elected. I was awarded a grant of EUR 45,000 for two academic courses in the Italian college I choose. Its intention is to create an intellectual elite. The main objective is to improve culture, politics and nature through education. Promote cultural relations among peoples through education to change the world

And after that experience, do you feel different?

I felt like me. In this selection process, they know what people they want. They're going to look for them, then they give you special training.

The stay in Italy was very nice. All young people, studying, wanting to change the world, with the sea and the mountain beside them… There was a kind of utopia.

And from there to London and then to China. How about there?

Two years ago, I went to China for a course. There everything is quite confusing. The Chinese are very cheerful, they speak very loudly, they drink beer, they like to be with their friends. In this respect they are more like us than the Japanese, for example. However, the situation of the people is amazing: 70% live in poverty. There are big differences between classes. That is what will happen later in the West as a result of the cuts and many of the current decisions. China is a huge country, but without a doubt, the hardest thing is to live in the city and live without money. There I had a boyfriend who lived in a bunker that I did in the '60s. Underground. No windows, no toilets and no kitchen, with rats. This kid has a college career, but there's no job and it's not going to be easy to get out of that life.

On the other hand, the young people of the wealthy classes want the money and technology from the West to come to them. Most of them become very attractive to our world. Their form of politics or censorship does not worry them too much. They don't have YouTube, but they have Youku, they don't have Messenger but they do have QQ, they don't have Google, but they do have Baidu and they have Iphone and computers. In general, the level of stress is very high. In addition, pollution is terrible. One day, for example, they advised kids not to play on the street, not to run and jump because the air was very polluted and could be very harmful to health. That's not my life.

You've also lived in Nepal.

I lived six months in Kathmandu, as a teacher, with children in a pensioner. It's very peaceful fico.La people are very quiet, but there's also a lot of difference between those who have money and those who don't. Nepal's spirituality is very important, not in China. Nothing. Materialism prevails there. It's almost religion. I am very nervous and in Nepal I was very quiet. Get up at five in the morning, shower with cold water, meditate an hour and then teach. Very nice. Maybe it's ever repeated, but not always to live like this.

Do you see the world differently in the East?

I think every person sees the world in a way. I don't see the world as my sister, for example. I worked at the San Sebastian Film Festival and there I met a film director from China. It was the first time I had left Beijing. You don't know Shanghai. I didn't know English. In the presentation of the film he was asked if the Chinese were animals without feelings, as his film is very cold and hard. And I was saying, but what racist, how can you ask such a question? Swedish Ingmar Bergman would not be asked such a sure question. There are many borders and walls in our head, and that needs to be changed.

What about the Scottish experience?

I found Scotland very tough. It was cold and the level of alcoholism, for example, was very high. In addition, I worked in an anti-depression NGO, collecting money, making partners, and I thought people were saying yes, but after a short time they stopped paying. All that was very sad.

This year you've been in Taiwan for two months.

Yes, in the capital, Taipein. I've worked in a puppet museum. The Japanese and the Taiwanese are the ones who have received the most from the West, so it is easier to contact them for outsiders. I found a very nice and creative atmosphere. I have also been able to meet the indigenous people through a project of Chinese shadows.
And again to London.
Yes. I'm at ease there, but it's all very expensive. I don't go to the movies because I don't have money. I have no house. I will live with my boyfriend and other friends.

And working as you learn -- wherever you can, right?

Yes, I take care of some Italian children and from time to time I make translations. The best I can. I worked for some time at a job in China. I saw that they needed European girls, and because I really like dancing, I showed up. There, I was also doing translation work for some phone applications, from Chinese to Basque and vice versa. Always small jobs.

Is it hard to find a job?

When I came back in April, I was surprised by the atmosphere that was breathing here. All talking about the crisis, the unemployment, the closed shops… But the crisis feels all over the world and more if you are young. I speak six languages, I have higher education and I can't find work anywhere. They only offer us practices that are not paid. They tell you that you need them to complete your resume, but pay nowhere. Someday I'll have to start making money, right? In summer, I spent two months in a museum in Taiwan without paying a penny. I wasn't paid for the plane either. I've been at two festivals in London and I haven't been paid. I've spent two weeks at the San Sebastian Film Festival doing translations in Chinese and English and I haven't been paid. What was in Donostia-San Sebastian was not a traineeship, but a volunteer group. But the result is the same: you work for free. Well, I got 150 euros. Approximately 1 euro per hour of work. It's not just a crisis, slavery is a new system. Companies, and also those who are not, think it's best to welcome a young man with an amazing resume without paying anything for a while and then throw him away to catch another slave next year. Unpaid internships are known as unpaid practices. I have taken a decision on this: that I must not accept more practices of this kind, because it is not allowed. If my work, my translations, my hands, you want it, you'll have to pay. That's what I think, but we'll see. If things get really hard, I'll go to China. It's easier to find work there if you're not from there. In many companies they look for foreign faces. At the moment I want to learn and write poetry, to see if they ever publish them to me… That may be another way.

Last year you won the prize in Pamplona. Do you always write in Basque?

Most of the time, yes, especially not to forget. In my loneliness I work this way my Basque. I've written other poems mixing languages. I think that's the picture of the world: despite knowing and using many languages, it's very difficult to understand others. Beyond language, we have other limits, many other walls.

Your father is also a well-known writer, Fernando Chivite.

Yes, and my mother also published a book, but I'm not like them, a quiet writer. More I take pictures and figures and like them and like them, and then when I can no longer hold them inside, I throw them at a gallop. I behave like a bulimic. I'm the bulimic of literature.

Have you tried it with other artistic expressions?

They say that those of us who study Art History are the ones who want to be artists but have no skill at all. I really like to draw, do things with my hands, ceramics… but I don’t consider myself an artist, so I have to settle for studying art history and artists’ works.

And in London, you also do art therapy. What is that?

We help people with down problems, autism, depression or anxiety to express their feelings through artworks. For three hours, they expel all emotions with different paints and materials. We help them by telling them how the materials are used, but then they do so in complete freedom. I work as a volunteer, but it's a beautiful experience. The energy there is very good and there I do not feel exploited!

What would you like to do in the future?

I'd like to do something about improving education, perhaps as a teacher. But also do translations, work in museums, festivals, art therapies. I like all of that.

How can education be improved?

The Spanish Government does not attach importance to education. It is the first thing that has been cut and that is the worst thing that can be done. The future is built through education. Teaching professionals are of great importance. Now it is the Magisterium who asks for the lowest degree to access the university and should not be so. It's as important as being a doctor, because you're saving people's heads. We need literature, art and philosophy to transform people. We need people who really believe in education and who want to convey wisdom.