Bilbao, 24 November 2023. The presentation of the exhibition, HARRI, ORRI, ARkatz, took place today. The exhibition showcases illustrated works of climbing and mountain art & topos and was held at the site that the founders of Bilbao first settled, the Aztarnategia/Yacimiento museum. This is the largest exhibition of its type staged internationally, with contributions from authors from all over the world, and is the ideal setting for the book titled: EL ARTE EN EL CROQUIS DE ESCALADA / ART IN CLIMBING TOPOS.
The curators: Juancar Sanz, Eli Azurmendi and Rafa Elorza
The exhibition is taking place within the framework of the 16th edition of the BBK Mendi Film Bilbao Bizkaia mountain film festival, which will be held between the 8th and 17th of December next. The director of the Mendi Film Jabier Baraiazarra, introduced Eli Azurmendi, Juancar Sanz and Rafa Elorza, the curators and managers of the exhibition, after being welcomed to the event by the coordinator of Bilbao Bizkaia Museums, Sorkunde Aiarza.
Among the numerous guests attending the event were Leixuri Arrizabalaga (The Biscay Minister for, culture, sport and basque language), Begoña de Ibarra (Director General manager of Culture of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia), Koldo Bilbao (BBK Fundazioa) and Zigor Egia (President of the Basque Mountain Federation). And well-known artists, climbers and illustrators such as Jesus Mari Lazkano, Christian Ravier, Jodi Pfefferkorn, Simón Elías, Olivier Marquet, Julio Villar, Sergi Ricart, Santi Yañiz, Juanjo Sansebastián, José Carlos Tamayo and Kepa Lizarraga.
The opening of the presentation featured a performance of vertical dance by Janire Etxabe (Dimegaz) and the exhibition curators offered a guided tour.
ORGANISED BY: Club Vasco de Camping Elkartea (San Sebastian) and BBK Mendifilm Bilbao-Bizkaia
COLLABORATORS: Provincial Council of Bizkaia, Bilbao Bizkaia Museums, Bilbao City Council
COMMISSIONERS: Eli Azurmendi, Juancar Sanz, Rafa Elorza (Expocroquis).
VENUE: Yacimiento de la Plaza del Corazón de María, Bilbao (San Francisco 14)
DATE: 24/11/2023 - 07/01/2024.
OPENING HOURS: Tuesday to Saturday: 10:00-13:00 and 16:00-19:00 / Sundays and public holidays: 10:00-14:00 (24-25-31 December and 1-6 January closed)
ADMISSION: 3€ per person (in groups of more than 10 people, 1'5€ per person) and free on Thursdays.
THE PROJECT
This project aims to raise awareness of the climbing topos as an artistic heritage, a reflection of the concerns and tastes of a community that, sharing the common desire to climb walls, large or small, all over the world for more than two hundred years, expresses its sensitivity according to the cultural differences that, for the same reason, have been present in the Basque Country for the same amount of years, and which, for the same reason, are a reflection of the cultural differences in the world.
The exhibition has involved climbers and artists from all over the world such as Armand Ballart, Phillipe Barthez, François Carrafancq, Rolo Garibotti, Jean and Pierre Ravier, Christian Ravier, Jeremy Collins, Chema Agustín, Ángel López Cintero, Clay Wadman, Julio Villar, Timmy O'Neill, Eric Sloan, Rhiannon Klee Williams, Craig Muderlak and Oscar Masó, among many others.
HARRI, ORRI, ARkatz is presented in 13 panels and 9 showcases.
Panels:
R1 / The origin of climbing topos
02 / Txindoki and the Basque Mountains
03 / The Pyreneism
04 / The West Face of Naranjo and Picos de Europa
05 / Mallos of Riglos
06 / Montserrat and the Mediterranean Mountains
07 / The Central System
08 / The Alps
09 / Yosemite
10 / Patagonia
11 / The Great Mountain Ranges
12 / Other Mountains
13 / Parallel Arts
THE BOOK
The book EL ARTE EN EL CROQUIS DE ESCALADA / ART IN CLIMBING TOPOS follows the outline of the exhibition, with the addition of four chapters that review the different ways of understanding the climbing topos, from the functional to the artistic and from pencil and paper to computer programmes, emphasising its aesthetic values. A final chapter deals with the climbing guides, documents that, from their reside in refuges, bars or mountain clubs and bear witness to the shared culture of the climbing world.
The book’s presentation is going to be at the BBK Mendi Film Bilbao Bizkaia on Saturday December 9th, in the Sala BBK, at a session starting at 12 noon. Some of the authors of the sketches will take part in the presentation together with the curators of the exhibition, who are also the authors of the book.
