About Artekale

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Artekale was founded in 2004 to enhance, promote, and disseminate street arts in the Basque Country, as well as positioning the Basque Country in the national and international arena. To achieve this, Artekale focuses on three general objectives:

  • To increase the presence of Basque Street Arts at the national and international level, promoting the growth of the sector.
  • To create a space where all the agents involved – producers, distributors, and exhibitors – can meet and share ideas.
  • To promote the industrial development of the street arts, focusing on supply, circuits, and audiences.

The Artekale association is of a markedly unifying nature. It brings together both the public and private sectors, as well as the professionals from the sector: artists, festivals, and distributors, all with the aim of dignifying the street arts.

In terms of its operations, Artekale’s Board of Directors evaluates the objectives and programmes new challenges; it is made up of one person from each sector, seeking a territorial balance to guarantee a broad vision and satisfactory governance.

The members make the activity more dynamic through their participation in the committees or working groups. The committees may vary from year to year, depending on the needs identified and the actions to be carried out. These are the ones that are active today:

1.- THE COMMISSION COMMISSION

Here, we take a look at the live art sector, its situation, and how the street arts fit into it. What can we do to improve its conditions and enhance its value? It is a matter of finding a consensual response to the problems affecting the sector and acting as a bloc to generate a critical mass to defend our rights.

2.- INSTITUTIONAL RELATIONS

This commission consists of festivals only and oversees institutional relations, what to say and how to say it. It is the job of other committees to communicate what we want to convey to the institutions on the various issues that are important to the sector.

3.- DISSEMINATION

Arranging the Street Arts catalogue, website, and social networks to make Artekale more widely known. Develop the image of the association, how we want to be seen, what is important to us and what news we want to promote.

4.- PROFESSIONAL MEETINGS

(SORBURU – PLAZARATU – BASQUE STREET ARTS)

They mainly take place in Umore Azoka and aim to generate a market and meetings between the various agents in the sector. It consists of 2 parts: The design and production of the activity (professional meetings) and the national or international outlook to find organisers to come to the Basque Country or fairs that Artekale should attend.

5.- ARTEEN SUKALDEA (URDIMBRE)

Think-tank conferences that take place in Bizkaia and combine lectures and round table discussions on topics relevant to the sector with actions or street performances focused on the general public.

6.- TRAINING

Training sessions that take place in Gipuzkoa and are mainly courses that focus on Street Art creativity and performing for professionals. They are designed to share creative spaces and to share knowledge.

7.- KALEKO ARTEAK EREITEN (SOWING THE SEEDS OF STREET ARTS)

Every season, Artekale prepares a directory of street arts companies that provides useful programming information and sends it to all the town councils in the Basque Country. The purpose is to promote performances in public spaces and to bring culture to smaller towns with more limited resources. Examples of this are the Araba Street Arts Circuit and Kaleluia, a festival that has expanded in Gipuzkoa. In the case of Alava, Artekale coordinates the circuit, the towns programme the shows, and the Provincial Council pays part of the fees of the Basque companies that perform.

Artekale’s field of action is broad, but it could be summarised in these four areas:

  • A place to meet and exchange ideas within the framework of the various festivals, fairs, and events.
  • Training for street arts professionals.
  • The interaction with different institutions in favour of the sector.
  • The promotion and dissemination of street arts.