CHILLIDAREN ARTISAUAK

*Chillidaren artisauak* is a stage production that approaches Eduardo Chillida’s creative process through music, words and images. Created with the approval and encouragement of the Chillida family, the performance traces the artist’s journey from a singular perspective: that of the workers from the Basque ironworks who collaborated with him in his creative process.

The piece takes us into the world of the forge in Legazpi. It was there that Chillida worked on his ideas in iron; it was there that the small-scale pieces he called “aromas” became monumental sculptures. Following his meeting with Patricio Echevarría, Chillida found in the Legazpi forge a place and a team of workers who made much of his sculptural imagination possible. Those craftsmen were not mere labourers: with their knowledge, technique and trade, they helped bring to life some of the most significant works of 20th-century European art.

Through narration, music and images, *Chillidaren artisauak* offers a journey through Chillida’s work and thought based on pieces created in Legazpi, many of which are now spread across the world: *Elogio del Horizonte, Buscando la Luz, A la Tolerancia, Elogio del Agua, La sirena varada* and *El Peine del Viento*, among others. As part of the Loraldia Festival, this production highlights the link between Basque creation, industry, memory and cultural transmission, bringing to the stage the hands, trades and community that also made Chillida’s work possible.