Abstract
I draw on my experience of painting portraits to reflect on the Basque diaspora today. Whilst living in different countries, I have painted Basque individuals that I have met through Basque organizations, through common friends in the Basque Country, or through “non-Basque” people who introduce us presuming that as fellow Basques we have something in common. We are thus brought together through the networks that typically define a diaspora. At the same time, Basque identity in the diaspora, as I have come to understand - and paint - it, is a personal and contextual experience. In this article, I offer further - textual - information about the individuals I originally intended to just portray in paint, as part of the effort to render more richly today’s plural picture of the Basque diaspora.
DOI
10.18122/boga/vol5/iss1/3/boisestate
Recommended Citation
Bray, Zoe
(2017)
"Face to Face: Painting Basque Identity in the Diaspora,"
BOGA: Basque Studies Consortium Journal: Vol. 5
:
Iss.
1
, Article 3.
10.18122/boga/vol5/iss1/3/boisestate
Available at:
https://scholarworks.boisestate.edu/boga/vol5/iss1/3
About the Author
Zoe Bray is Visiting Scholar at the European Forum of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Prior to this she was Professor at the Center for Basque Studies of the University of Nevada Reno. She holds a PhD from the European University Institute, Florence, and an MA from Edinburgh University, Scotland. Bray is an exhibited and published artist and anthropologist working in the field of art and identity politics. More info: www.zoebray.com.