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March 8th marks International Women’s Day, which folks at Boise State University will be celebrating by paying tribute to Basque women as part of an exhibit, as well as to one woman in particular, Eloise Garmendia Bieter.  The inauguration of the Eloise Garmendia Bieter Chair will include an afternoon of Basque songs performed by local singers, followed by a reception in the Student Union Art Gallery where the exhibit is located.  Both events are free and open to the public. 

Boise, ID.   March 8th, or International Women’s Day will be celebrated in style at Boise State University, with two events honoring Basque women.  The Eloise Garmendia Bieter Chair will be inaugurated with an afternoon of song.  Various local choirs and individuals will perform Basque melodies beginning at 3pm in the Jordan AB Ballroom.  This will be followed by a reception in the Student Union Art Gallery from 5-7pm where the exhibit, “Inner Strength: Portraits of Basque Immigrant Women” is located.  Both events are free and open to the public and light refreshments will be provided.

The Eloise Garmendia Bieter Chair is the result of collaboration between Boise State University and the Etxepare Basque Institute.  The goal of the Chair is to allow visiting Basque professors to offer graduate classes, or workshops, “in hopes of increasing studies and research on issues related to Basque language and culture.”  The Chair’s first incumbent is Dr. Iñaki Goirizelaia, former President of the University of the Basque Country, who has already begun teaching at BSU.

The exhibit portrays 41 women of all ages, with photographs taken by Peter Oberlindacher and the ethnographic research of Begoña Pecharroman with excerpts of the interviews conducted by Pecharroman accompanying each photo.  The goal of the exhibit is to portray the “character, fortitude and dignity of these women,” while their stories provide themes such as work, oppression, life in the homeland, as well as their stories of immigration and integration into their new surroundings.  The exhibit was also made possible with the collaboration of the Boise Basque Museum. 

For complete information on both events, visit the Basque Studies at Boise State website here.