Bertsolariak

Basque improvised poetry: the creative process

Knowledge is not the exclusive domain of either art or science, that is why in Passion for Knowledge we will not only be talking about physics, chemistry, engineering and botany. Every field of knowledge has a role to play, including one that exclusively belongs to the Basque culture: the art of Basque improvised sung poetry.

In a very special session, sheduled for Friday, September 30th at ~18h00 in the main venue, three of the Basque Country’s most talented and best-known versifiers, known locally as “bertsolaris”, will come together to demonstrate and explain to the general public the creative process involved in improvising a sung poem, a so called “bertso”.

Once given a topic, during those few seconds of absolute concentration in which they have to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, taking rhyme and melody into account as well, what actually goes on inside a bertsolari’s head?

This session will be developed in Basque language, and simultaneous interpretation service into English and Spanish will be available for the public.