SANTXOTENA
Santxotena, a sculptor
Oteizaren ikasle izandako hau
egurrezko armarriak lantzen
hasi zen. Bi museotan bildu
du ia bere obra guztia,
helburutzat Historiak
zikindutako agoteen irudia
garbitzea duena; hain zuzen
ere arraza horretakoa da bear.
Familiatik datorkion
Gorrienea etxean dago
materiala ikusgai, Nafarroako
Baztanen, Bozate auzoan.
Santxotenak jesuitei
erositako 32.000 metro
koadroko lursailean, etxearen
inguruetan, beste obra batzuk
daude jarrita. Mitologiarekin,
naturarekin eta artearekin
bat egiteko gune aproposa.
abier Santxotena is proud to
be an Agote, proud to be a
member of one of the seven
so-called “damned races” of
Spain, together with the Pasiegos,
Maragatos, Vaqueiros, Chuetas,
Quinquis and Gypsies. He has
researched the subject with passion
and used it as inspiration for a number
of his sculptures. “A lot of literature
and a lot of nonsense has been written
about the Agotes,” he says. “Our
people originally came from Occitania,
but our ancestors were forced to
emigrate for religious reasons. The
Agotes were pure Christians who
didn’t believe in the divinity of Jesus
Christ or in the virginity of the Virgin,
or in the sacraments or the Church
hierarchy. That was the real reason
why they were persecuted and forced
cross the Pyrenees. In 1253 a group of
them settled here, on lands belonging
to the feudal lord of Ursúa. They
worked as artisans, crafting objects
from stone, iron and wood. They were
also good weavers and musicians.They
had no land of their own and
eventually became marginalized and
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outcasts.That’s how it was until 1819,
even though before that, in 1789, the
the French Revolution had put an end
to those differences in France. But the
legends and social complexes lasted
for much longer. A lot of pejorative
myths and legends were spread. It was
said that we suffered from cretinism,
and Bozate (a town in Navarra) was
described as a gloomy ominous
neighborhood. Other groups of Agotes
have been robbed of their place in
history, such as the people who settled
along the Saint James pilgrimage
route, where Knights of the Templar
used Agote craftsmen to built their
late-Romanesque monasteries and
other buildings.”
how he worked and how he developed
his concepts and sculptures was a true
privilege. He used to say that every
artist should have his own museum so
I was got rather daring and decided to
fix up the family home without a
penny of help from anyone. In 1998 I
put together the museum and five
years later the park.”
Santxotena met his teacher, Jorge
Oteiza, in 1969 and maintained a
close friendship for years until the
time of Oteiza’s death.“I was 22 years
old and spent my time carving shields
with the coat of arms I saw around
town. When he saw my carvings, he
said ‘you’re already making sculptures’
He was a cultural guide for me, the
best university you can have. Watching
Gorrienea and the park
99% of Santxotena’s sculptures can
be found between these two places and
his studio in Artziniega, Alava. He
claims that he has never been a
commercial artist and therefore has
never had the need to sell his work,
relying instead other means of making
a living.
Gorrienea is a tribute to his
ancestors. The ground floor is divided
into two different areas. One part is
Santxotena’s grandfather’s workshop
with his carpentry tools and
Santxotena’s own woodworking
tools. The other is what were the
actual living spaces The kitchen is set
Issue 80. Year 2007
SANTXOTENA
proud of his roots
up to immortalize the women in his
family. The utensils on display remind
us that they were sausage-makers,
midwives and cooks. The kutxas, crib,
bed and washbasin were made by his
maternal grandfather. Some of the
other hand-carved household objects
bear witness to his father’s patience
and skill.
A series of Santxotena’s own wood
sculptures is also on display: Gernika,
bust dedicated to his maternal
grandfather and other works inspired
in the conception of life, motherhood,
old age and the tears of Sarajevo. The
piece he clearly prizes the most is
called The Forest Medusa, made of pat
of a Holm oak carved to reveal all of
the nerves and fibers. Also on display
are other works which pay homage to
the wind, to the Holm oak itself, to the
diaspora, and such figures as
Rigoberta Menchú and Jackson Polo,
whom he very much admires.
The 32,000 square meter park is a
fantastic space where art is combined
with nature. The grounds are dotted
with some sixty iron sculptures and
eight cottages, each housing its own
large-scale wooden sculpture. “We built
these sacralized huts or small
sanctuaries to install the little gods the works in wood.”
Most of the pieces installed outdoors
take their inspiration from Basque
mythology. “Atarrabi is the genie of the
atmosphere, wind and sun, and
Mekalatz, the genie of destruction, is
the night. Both of them are children of
Mari, the great goddess.” Three of the
pieces represent the lunar calendar:
“We’re lunatic,” says Santxotena. “Our
grandparents would always know the
best time to cut down a tree, slaughter
an animal or catch fish by looking at
the moon.” There is also a river totem
and a flock of doves, “because the
subsistence of the Agotes depended on
hunting and fishing.”
Issue 80. Year 2007
One of the cottages is dedicated to
Oteiza. Amalur, or the Earth Mother, is
the other one of Santxotena’s themes,
this time sculpted from beech wood.
“It’s emptiness, the Earth’s uterus in a
female figure,” he explains. The four
Mikeldis, or protective totems, also
follow Oteiza’s concept of empty space.
The Holm oak as a sacred symbol of
the Basques is also featured. Another
cottage houses enormous heads of
important figures in Basque history:
Lope de Aguirre, San Francisco Javier,
Ignatius of Loyola and Sancho III the
Great. “I’m now working on important
female figures: Pasionaria, Joan of
Albret, (protector of the Agote people
who in 1570-80 commissioned Jon
Lizarraga to translate the Bible into
Euskara), Ernestina de Champourcin,
Inesa de Gaxet (witch who escaped
from the hands of French inquisitioner
Pierre de Lancre and died in
Hendaye). I’m also planning on carving
heads for Catalina de Erauso and Sor
Inés de la Cruz.” ”.
A small wood and glass auditorium, a
sculpture in its own right, seats 50
people. As part of the guided tour,
visitors are invited to the auditorium to
learn about the Agote people from
Santxotena himself.
The new museum
Santxotena has a new project brewing
in his head: to turn his studio in
Artziniega, Alava, into a third museum.
“The concept is going to be new
because visitors will have a chance to
talk to the artist and see the entire
process, from designing and shaping to
the final product,” he explains. The new
museum will be organized into what he
calls “families.” One of them is the
basoa or forest, reflected in four large
statues which will represent the four
seasons.
Another family will be monuments to
peace. “I have four: one is dedicated to
Galíndez; the second pays tribute to the
bicentennial of the French Revolution,
which is when the Agotes became
equals; the third is Gernika, which is at
Gorrienea now, but I’m making another
one to mark the 70th anniversary of the
bombing of Gernika. At Artziniega
various artists will have free rein to
develop their own concept of peace. I’ve
made a large mural about Otxandiano,
Gernika and Durango, the three towns
in Euskadi that were bombed during the
Spanish Civil War.”
Sculpture dedicated
to Galíndez
Santxotena has created three
sculptures dedicated to Galíndez.
One is made of cement and is
located in the Bozate park and
museum; another is in the
Gorrienea museum, and the third,
made of steel painted in royal red,
was recently installed in Gernika
Park next to the Euskal Etxea in
Bogota. The piece was donated by
the sculptor and inaugurated by
Lehendakari Ibarretxe. In the
words of the artist, “it represents
two hands that reach out of the
earth in search of peace. It
denotes Colombia and Euskadi,
two countries looking for an end
to violence.”
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