The Basque Government presents two exhibitions on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco

Euskaraz irakurri: Eusko Jaurlaritzak bi erakusketa aurkeztu ditu Miguel Angel Blancoren hilketaren 25. uteurrena dela eta

The Basque government presented two exhibitions this Monday on the occasion of the deeds of memory, commemoration and tribute to Miguel Ángel Blanco 25 years after his murder at the hands of ETA. Thus, this attack is approached by remembering it in the present moment, but with an eye to the future.

The First Deputy Lehendakari and Minister of Security, Josu Erkoreka, the Minister of Equality, Justice and Social Policy, Beatriz Artolazabal, together with the Mayor of Ermua presented the two exhibitions that “reflect the injustice of the murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco and the social outrage of disgust and condemnation it caused,” they assured.

Both exhibitions were created in collaboration with the municipality of Ermua, promoter of the various events, exhibitions and tributes that will take place in the city of Biscay during the month of July. The first is organized by Gogora, the Institute for Memory, Coexistence and Human Rights, and the second by the Ertzaintza.

The event was also attended by several ETA victims, Ertzaintza agents, as well as youths from Eibar and Ermua, all key players and present at both exhibitions.

Erkoreka has assured that through these exhibitions “we will feel the personal, family and social pain we experienced during the 48 hours that the abduction of Miguel Ángel Blanco lasted”. And he stated that “with him we also remember all the victims of ETA”.

In addition to the commemoration, the minister acknowledged the work of all agents who “quietly and anonymously participated in completely unknown police tasks during the years of terrorism to protect Basque society as a whole”.

In this sense he has said that “remembering is a guarantee of non-repetition. It is our duty to make Memory look to the future with hope”.

For his part, Artolazabal recalled Miguel Ángel Blanco, a victim of terrorism and a victim of “a totalitarian project, a person who adds ethical and moral referentiality to today’s society.” The confidential counselor has assured that the solidity of a country’s moral core is also measured by the attention paid to the victims.

In the words of Artolazabal: “This tribute to Miguel Ángel Blanco is paid by putting the victims of terrorism at the center; emphasizing the dedication of the people and organizations who have been at the forefront of defending peace and delegitimizing terrorism; And we do it, looking to the future through the eyes of young Basques”.

Artolazabal has referred to the Basque youth, “as a guarantee for the delegitimization of all expressions of violence and for non-repetition”, he addressed the young people present. “You are the best guarantee for a future in peace”, he assured and encouraged them to fight for it.

The minister started her speech with the commemoration of Begoña Urroz Ibarrola, a victim of DRILL, on this day 62 years since her death in an attack in Donostia-San Sebastián.

Gogora Exhibition

The exhibition, designed by Gogora, the Institute for Memory, Coexistence and Human Rights, opens to the public today. It occupies a space of 180 square meters, divided into three rooms, on the fourth floor of the Izarra Center in Ermua. It is titled “Miguel Ángel Blanco gogoan / Elkarbizitza eraikiz. Memory for coexistence”.

For this, Gogora has designed an audiovisual tour with pieces between 12 and 15 minutes Each of the videos can be viewed individually, but the joint vision of the exhibition takes us on a journey through the recent history of the Basque Country and also invites us to reflect on what happened and to contribute and our memory to share in a special room. to do this, and thus contribute to the building of memory.

In the first place, all attention has been paid to the youth of Ermua and Eibar, who did not experience these “traumatic” events, but who learned the recent history of their people through their families and the various educational programs. Their reflections are the common thread between a traumatic past and a future of hope, of coexisting peacefully, as they claim to know the past so as not to fall back into the same mistakes and to strengthen their commitment to human rights and coexistence,” artolazabal said. explained.

Secondly, those who come to visit the exhibition will be able to see first-hand the testimonies of relatives of victims of ETA from today. The government has prepared a summary of testimonials from the audiovisual fund of Gogora (“Memory to the Victims”) that will bring viewers closer to terrorism in the Basque Country from the perspective of those who suffered it. Gogora’s goal is the necessary humanization of the gaze to understand the magnitude of gravity of what terrorism and violence meant in Euskadi.

Presentation of the exhibition in Ermua. Photo: Irekia.

Finally, in a third space, Gogora will uncover the history of the pacifist movements, from the beginning to the end of the violence in Euskadi (“Pacifist movements in Euskadi”). Its purpose is to carry out an explicit recognition and educate the people and groups who, even in the worst situations, knew how to respond publicly to violence and unreasonableness.

In short, the exhibition is a reflection of a society that tries to build a reconciled future, without forgetting our recent past. A society that has made the transmission of our recent memory one of the fundamental pillars of its public memory policy.

Exhibition of the Ertzaintza

The space created by the Ertzaintza in the Izarra Center in Ermua is an immersive and multisensory tour built on an area of ​​100 square meters. It is an exhibition with 6 differentiated but sequential spaces, which as a whole constitute a new experience, which challenges the spectator, and is very dynamic as it presents audiovisual formats, phrases, poems, quotes, objects and even interactions and games with the perspective of those who visit it.

The exhibition created by the Basque government also plays with light in such a way that it starts with the most intimate and dark spaces, reflecting the cruelest part of ETA’s history. Among them, the place is dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the murder of Miguel Ángel Blanco, a place surrounded by the map of Euskadi where you can see a video, in countdown format, reflecting the social anxiety experienced during the 48 hours that it took his kidnapping. Likewise, in this space there will be a display case in which you can see a replica of the 12 volumes that compose the police report with the full investigation opened after his murder to this day.

From then on, the exhibition gradually lets light enter the subsequent spaces showing the current work of the Ertzaintza and its interaction with society, testimonials from young people and current students of the Basque Academy of Police and Emergency Situations, as well as sentences expressing the resilience and the will to look to the future of Basque society.

Thus, the exhibition ends in a large window, built like a trompe l’oeil: sentences are written backwards so that, in order to decipher them, the spectator has to stand in front of a mirrored surface that reflects the well-constructed sentences and their own reflection in between. It is a game with the people who enter the exhibition as spectators of a strange reality and who emerge during this emotional journey as part and protagonist of lived history. It is an invitation to reflection and individual commitment about the damage that ETA causes, in which a book will also be placed so that anyone who wishes can express their wishes or feelings afterwards.