The Museums Association website has just published an article by Geraldine Kendall Adams covering the good news for Basque culture in general and for the Basque language in particular. Euskararen Etxea (The Basque Language House), located in the San Ignacio neighborhood of Bilbao, has received the 2025 Museum Prize from the European Council. With it, this European institution recognizes museums that ” have made a significant contribution to the understanding of European cultural heritage.”
The Euskaren Etxea was founded in 2004 as the result of the collaboration between the Biscay Government, the City of Bilbao, and the Basque Government. Today, it is managed by the Azkue Fundazioa.
The representative of the Museum Prize committee, Constantinos Efstathiou, defines it this way: “The Euskararen Etxea is a grassroots initiative with inter-generational activities to promote the transmission and use of the Basque language. It is a ‘big-little museum’, with only three permanent staff members who manage many activities and a network of partners, including the University of Bilbao, and many civil society associations.”
We would only add one thing to the article. Basque is not the language of the Basque Country in “northeastern Spain.” Basque is the language of the Basque Country, which is on both sides of the Pyrenees next to the Bay of Biscay, currently under Spanish and French administration.
Bilbao’s House of the Basque Language wins Council of Europe Museum Prize
Museum Association – 17/12/2024
The 2025 Council of Europe Museum Prize has gone to Euskararen Etxea (the House of the Basque Language) in Bilbao, Spain. A small museum in a working-class neighbourhood on the outskirts of the city, the House of the Basque Language showcases the challenge of preserving a language, enabling visitors to listen, read and sing in Euskera, the language of the Basque Country in northeastern Spain.
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Last Updated on Dec 31, 2024 by About Basque Country
