euskalkultura.eus

Donostia-San Sebastian.  A black sock, a white thread, needle, thimble and a petition that mixes Latin and Basque: “Santitum zaina urtu, zaina bere lekuen sartu” (Santitum, dissolve the vein; put the vein in its place).  These are the tools of the magical ritual by which Carmen cures sprains and strains.  The formula should be repeated for three days for it to work.  It's a magic remedy, which has been transmitted in the popular wisdom from generation to generation, from curator to curator, but Carmen has no heir and so fears that it will be lost.  

This is the story that Olatz Gonzalez Abrisketa, professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of the Basque Country, gathered in a short that is four minutes long.  The short has been given an award by the Society of Visual Anthropology, a department of the American Anthropological Association in the US. The award ceremony will take place on November 16 in San Francisco as part of the annual conference of the association. 

Documentary on Pilota

Currently, Olatz Gonzalez Abrisketa (Bilbao, 1973) is working on a documentary on Basque pilota with filmmaker Jorgen Leth.  Gonzalez published the book "Basque Pilota: A Ritual, an Esthetic" in 2006 after researching the topic for six years. She is now doing a documentary based on the book whose English translation will be published this year by the Center for Basque Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.

Olatz Gonzalez Abrisketa is a member of the HAUtaldea group which is developing a project on Visual Anthropology.

-For more information on the Santiritu technique: here