Picasso's Gernika in Bearpit

When I passed by Bearpit today, my heart skipped a beat when I saw Pablo Piccaso's most famous painting (on the right). Guernica, or "Gernika" with basque spelling, is the name of a Basque town in the province of Biscay, very close my hometown, sadly famous because Nazi's air-bombed the town the last Monday of April in 1937. Pablo Picasso showed the tragedy to the world through this world-wide famous artwork.

When I first mentioned the painting to local people, I was surprised to discover that just some of them recognised Picasso's painting, and even fewer people knew the meaning of it, or what it represents. That's the reason I am writing this post.

In Gernika, every Monday is market day, when farmers trade their goods, and afterwards perhaps watch a pelota (basque sport) game at the local court. Monday market day has always been considered as a holiday in the town. The town streets get busy, it's a social day of the week. 

The day was strategically chosen by Hitler to send the Condor Legion to support dictator Francisco Franco's troops to raze a town full of individual and innocent civilians to the grounds. The location, Gernika, was also strategically chosen by Nazis, as Gernika is a specially relevant town in the Basque Country because of its political importance: the Basque Meeting House has always been located in Gernika, next to the famous Tree of Gernika. By the ancient tradition, Basques held assemblies under an oak tree to discuss matters affecting the community. And Basques were not to Francisco Franco's liking, on the one side for not considering themselves Spanish, and on the other side, for speaking what he called a barbarian language and for having barbarian traditions.

Bearpit exhibits the first part of a three-part show about activists and activism titled How does an activist eat potatoes? which celebrates "the diversity of people who have worked hard to make a possitive difference", as said in the public notice about the exhibition. The second part is Smash - Activist China Now!, which shows ceramics at the PRSC Selling Gallery and the third part  is Love and Resistance, a public survey concerning acts of care and defiance.

Very interesting exposition, recommendable!

PS: This post is dedicated to my grandma as well as to all those thousands of Basques who left all their scarce belongings at home in order to run away and save their lives. And specially to those who couldn't make it.