euskalkultura.eus

A few days ago the World Languages Fair Expolangues was held in Paris; which is a referential fair and unavoidable meeting point for world's languages. Or, at least, it used to be. Nowadays Expolangues is not the crowded and referential fair that it was once. Languages Fairs are windows to show the world the labor for a language that is done by agents and institutions like ours. They are spaces to display all the information that is generated around our language and its closest reality. Spaces where everything related to a language gathers: where to learn it, different methodologies, teaching materials, the latest researches, news, reflections… They are spaces to compare minority languages like ours with the bigger ones. But nowadays, when changes in social communication are frenetic, the current formula of Expolangues is not working anymore.

There may be several reasons for this decline: the crisis and cutbacks; the decline of French language as an international way to communicate; the need to reorganize the working formula of most fairs; the ease and speed to find out information about languages on the net; etc. In addition, some scheduled visits to Expolangues such as student groups’ ones, were cancelled this year due to security reasons.

Expolangues 2015 had, of course, pleasantly positive aspects too. The Azkue Foundation and the Etxepare Basque Institute have brought together the Euskera to Paris. This collaboration is essential and necessary to open our language to the world.

It has been a pleasure, on the other hand, to enjoy the recital of the poet Gerardo Markuleta and the musician Jabier Muguruza, organized by the reader of Basque Language and Culture of the Etxepare Basque Institute, Miren Ibarluzea, where also the students and readers of Portuguese, Catalan, Galician and Spanish took part.

And a glance to the future came with Andreu Bosch (Institut Ramon Llull), Josune Ariztondo (President of Azkue Fundazioa) and Pello Salaburu (UPV-EHU Professor and Director of SEG project) in a round table where they discussed on the impact of the network on the dissemination of Basque and Catalan. A really interesting roundtable, that will undoubtedly go on.