Exhibitions, literary talks, installations for GetxoPhoto, technical visits, artistic restoration and open broadcasting of a monumental work share the Punta Begoña space on a daily basis, with the participation of dozens of professionals and visitors.

Literary talk

Around 7:00 PM on Ekaina 4, the Punta Begoña Reception Hall reached full capacity for the conversation between writer Elena Moreno and journalist Agustín Herranz.

Latecomers had to resort to extra chairs to settle in and witness the encounter “Memory, a Heritage That Is Written”, organized by the Punta Begoña Foundation in the context of the publication of Elena Moreno’s latest book, A Forest of Poplars in Idaho, published by HarperCollins, one of the world’s leading publishing groups.

During the conversation, they discussed the way in which the book gives voice to the conflicting emotions of the generations that have experienced emigration, the Civil War and the bombing of Gernika (from a distance) and the historical events of turbulent 20th-century Europe over the last century. These are some of the fundamental themes of a novel that will become a reference work on Basque emigration to America.

They also discussed the traces that remain in each literary work in the same way they do in heritage, how that intangible heritage forms an intrinsic part of them, and of Punta Begoña.

Elena Moreno’s words, in response to Agustín Herranz’s questions, poetically reflect the relationship between literature and heritage.

“The buildings, decorations, city landscapes are what shape my characters, like scenery for their own lives. That is why we need to recover history, which is what inhabits us and leaves its trace in us. Punta Begoña is a wonderful space that invites us to imagine who passed through its walls, invites us to imagine life. It is the balcony I always desired.”

International image festival

On the same Thursday, Ekaina 4, the Galleries were in full swing for the installation of the General Assembly of GetxoPhoto, a fundamental gathering of this festival that has achieved solid international prestige.

GetxoPhoto celebrates its twentieth anniversary in 2026 and has filled Punta Begoña with presentations, exhibitions, talks, visits and encounters that daily attract a large audience to the monument to participate in the art, reflection, innovation and play that the Festival proposes.

Literature, photography, meeting place… and construction work.

Open Work and Open Classroom

On Thursday the 4th, the structural recovery and artistic restoration works of the hall, the monumental vestibule and the “Flysch Cave” were already underway. During that same day, the work of the prestigious structural recovery and restoration team, awarded the public tender called for that purpose, could be witnessed live.

A team of professionals who have worked in the cathedrals of Granada and Seville, the Prado National Museum, the Old Cathedral of Vitoria-Gasteiz and the Roman Theatre of Córdoba.

The approach of the work as an Open Classroom enables academic and technical visits, and that same Thursday a visit took place by nearly a hundred professionals from the College of Quantity Surveyors of Bizkaia.

“Punta Begoña, from the Inside”

Open Classroom is not only developed in person, but also in digital format, enabling its technical, historical and informative monitoring from anywhere on the planet.

To this end, content is incorporated through the @puntabegonaoficial account on Instagram, carrying out a practically “live” broadcast, and in a pioneering manner, of a work of enormous technical complexity from both the structural and artistic point of view.

During Ekaina 4, the content corresponding to the day was recorded, which on this occasion consisted of videos and live stories.

Messages and responses to this initiative have begun to arrive from very distant places

“Greetings from Venezuela. Building a dream from my imagination”; “Seeing from a distance a place of childhood attachment is wonderful.”

From Uruguay, the radio program Thinking About Heritage, with networks that include thousands of professionals, joins in following the process.

At 9:00 PM on Thursday, Ekaina 4, the last chairs and sound equipment were removed from the main hall of Punta Begoña. In a few hours, installation work for GetxoPhoto, exhibitions, visits, activities… and construction work would continue.

Punta Begoña “from the inside”, open to the world, to take advantage of and share an exceptional journey through history, art and coexistence.