The Remembrance Square exhibition opens in Portugalete

 

The Mayor of Portugalete, Mikel Torres, and the GOGORA Director, Aintzane Ezenarro, opened the Remembrance Square travelling exhibition this afternoon. Members of the local council, along with members of associations and private individuals who make up the town's Historical Memory municipal participation panel, were there. 

The Remembrance Square exhibition gathers and displays witness accounts of what happened in the Basque Country in recent decades in order to construct a shared and pluralistic memorial. During her speech, Aintzane Ezenarro stressed the message from the victims calling for coexistence and peace and wanted to expressly thank them for their participation in this initiative, as she said "they did so are they convinced that they are making a positive contribution to the coexistence of this country". 

The following initiatives have been organised as part of the exhibition.

• 00 p.m. on 25 September: "The Footprint of Franco's Dictatorship in Portugalete", a talk on the historical memory by the Asociación OROITUZ de Portugalete.
• 00 p.m. on 27 September: Victims round table with the participation of Nerea Barrios, Iván Ramos and Fermín Pérez Elexpe.

The exhibition can be visited in the Plaza de El Solar on 28 September. 

Objectives 

The Remembrance Square project has four objectives:

1. To disseminate and share the memory through an exhibition and be the driving force for reflection constructed among all of us.
2. To provide a space where the general public can leave their accounts.
3. To work on remembrance at municipal level by driving dynamics in order to share critical reflections on the past.
4. Outreach and showcasing the Gogora Institute to the general public

Exhibition venue

The exhibition will be set up in a marquee with different areas:

• Account recording area: Visitors to the exhibition can record or write in situ their accounts of what they remember.
• Account videos: Visitors can listen to the accounts of victims of Franco’s dictatorship, terrorism and the victims coming under Decree 107/2012.
• Screening and discussion area: Two documentaries will be screened and group dynamics and talks will be organised.
• Message mural: Visitors to the exhibition can leave a written message on a mural and also in an urn, to be kept at the Gogora Institute and to be published on the Remembrance Square website.

Remembrance Square Background

The Gogora Institute began to showcase and expand these pluralistic memories in early 2016. Gogora seeks to continue to create spaces for anyone who wishes to contribute their account. The Remembrance Square exhibition has visited Bilbao, Durango, Tolosa, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Eibar, Donostia/San Sebastián, Zarautz, Arrasate, Getxo, Lasarte-Oria, Gernika and Santurtzi. See other experiences:  https://goo.gl/DR8Y4i