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The "Juan de Garay" Basque Foundation of Argentina by Enrique Jorge Aramburu On January 12, 1980, a group composed of Basques residing in Argentina and Argentine citizens residing in the Basque Country founded the cultural institution called the "Juan de Garay" Basque-Argentine Institute. Its objectives were to promote closer ties between the Basque Country and the Basque emigrants and their descendants in Argentina, stimulate research and study of the cultures of both communities, and disseminate knowledge of Argentine Basques active in the arts, literature, science, and labor throughout the Basque Country. With this precedent, in June 1983 a delegate of the Institute in Argentina, an Argentinean who had lived in the Basque Country, called a meeting of people involved in the Basque-Argentine milieu, and they met in the rooms of the "Gure Echea" Basque Club of Argentina in Buenos Aires. That group elected an organizational committee for the foundation, a body with specific goals of enriching fraternal ties. These include instilling love of the original homeland in the face of a natural tendency for it to disappear over time given distance; establishing the basis for mutual relations while increasing the spirit of collaboration between the different Basque institutions in the Argentine Republic; stimulating research regarding both the Argentine and European Basque communities; bringing about an active exchange through educational and cultural expositions; and supporting and organizing the restoration of lost family contacts and information on ancestral origins. Finally on August 16, 1983, the Founding Assembly that would give rise to the Foundation met in the Colegio Euskal Echea, a Basque school in Buenos Aires. I would like to emphasize the ecumenical spirit that guided those who founded, supported, and sheltered the organization from the time of those first meetings until it acquired its current headquarters in the center of Buenos Aires. As expressed in the document entitled Perfíl Institucional (Institutional Profile), dated August 16, 1986, the Foundation intended to stimulate the will and instigate the means to obtain the funding necessary to project widespread cultural activity throughout the Republic of Argentina, cultural activity inspired by the ancient traditions of the Basque people. The Foundation has five member categories: honorary members, meritorious members, founding members, supporting members, and regular members. It is directed by an Administrative Council comprised of twelve members that is served by two secretaries. The Foundation has an active Youth Group (Grupo de Jóvenes) that has sponsored a booth in the International Book Fair of Buenos Aires every year since 1988. The fair has nearly a million visitors annually. The Youth Group also organizes a round of conferences on Basque cultural themes and is continually proposing new activities. A distinguished Ladies' Commission (Comisión de Damas) also organizes important events for the Foundation, such as the Institutional Day dinner. The events that have taken place since 1983 are found in the Foundation Yearbooks (MEMORIAS Anuales de la Fundación) and include: 1983: Homage to Juan de Garay, founder of the city of Buenos Aires. Award of Honorary Membership to Dr. Luis Federico Leloir, winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine. Reference to the members by the Boletín del Instituto Americano de Estudios Vascos. 1984: Initiation of a research project on "Basque Immigration in Argentina," 1850-1950. 1985: Grant awarded to the Director of the Lagun Onak Choir to go to the Basque Country. Homage to Father Iñaki de Aspiazu for his forty years of work in Argentina. Celebration of Institutional Day, June 11, with a dinner that is now held by the Sociedad Rural Argentina group. 1986: Concert in honor of the composer Jesús Guridi. Representation of a Basque farmstead in the Sociedad Rural Argentina exposition. 1987: Several members of the Foundation presented papers at the II World Basque Congress which was attended by the Secretary and Treasurer of the organization. Looked after the young Basque college students who came to Argentina for the Pope's visit. Developed a mini course on Basque culture for the members of the Foundation. Received the Basque section of the Father Tomás Yoldi Mina Library, donated by the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. Provided grants for two people to go to the Basque Country to perfect their backgrounds in Basque folkloric music and dance. Continued its support of Basque-Argentine institutions (Lagun Onak Choir, Instituto Americano de Estudios Vascos, and Eusko Kultur Etxea). 1988: Youth Group sponsored a booth with Basque books at the fourteenth International Book Fair in Buenos Aires. Continued to support the Basque-Argentine institutions mentioned above. The President and Secretary participated in "Basques and America" week as guests of the Banco Bilbao of Vizcaya. The Youth Group presented a course on Basque Culture in the "Sebastián de Amorrortu" auditorium in the Casa de la Cultura Vasca. On the occasion of the Lehendakari's visit the Foundation sponsored the signing of an agreement for economic cooperation between the Chambers of Commerce of Bilbao, Alava, Guipúzcoa and Confebask and the Sociedad Rural Argentina, the Argentine Industrial Union, and the Chamber of Commerce of Argentina and Lehendakari Ardanza of the Basque Autonomous Government. 1989: Once again a booth was sponsored at the International Book Fair of Buenos Aires where, in addition to Argentine books and books from publishers in the Basque Country, the Foundation displayed books from the Basque Book Series of the University of Nevada Press. Currently, the Foundation, now consolidated as an Institution, has initiated a policy of openness toward Institutions of the Interior of Argentina, and is seeking to make contact with similar cultural origins in countries other than Argentina and Euskalherria. The Foundation is no stranger to the economic reality of the country. Proof of that is the difficulty encountered in acquiring a personal computer that would greatly simplify the administrative burden and open up new possibilities, especially in the area of dispersal and assessment of information on Basque topics. The Banco Bilbao of Vizcaya Foundation provides economic support for the research project on Basque immigration to Argentina. That project was begun in 1984 and covers a period from 1753 to the present. The fluid relationship that exists with the Argentine business community will shortly be channeled and directed by the creation of an Institute of Basque-Argentine Commerce. In addition to the projects carried out by the normal activities of the Foundation, there are plans to nominate Father José M. Barandiarán as an Honorary Member. Elections held at the end of 1989 consolidated the internal democracy of the Foundation, and the New Administrative Council will take on the responsibility of running the organization for another busy year. |
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