POSTER / KARTELA / CARTEL

NEW MIKELDI TROPHY AND NEW POSTER FOR ZINEBI 60

At the start of October 1959, the people responsible for the first International Ibero-American and Philippine Documentary Film Contest of Bilbao explained in the first issue of the magazine Miqueldi-the brand-new information vehicle for the freshly-created film festival-the reasons for choosing the trophy that would be one of its most recognisable images. On the one hand, they wanted the new Miqueldi (then written with a “q”) trophy to be worthy of being positioned “on the front line of international cinematographic awards in the documentary film sector”. Then, with a rhetoric that was much in keeping with the ideological atmosphere of those times, they justified the name and image of the award with a statement that “the sandstone figure, in the shape of a boar, found in Durango (Biscay) is understood to be an indigenous symbol of Biscay and Spain. It is a Celtic votive offering similar to the bulls and boars found on the peninsula but with a solar or lunar disc that is exclusive to Biscay”. Through these two announcements, the festival clearly showed, from the outset, how those first organizers wanted to closely link their attention to local culture and their determination to place the name of Bilbao at the forefront of international cinema.

The International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Bilbao-the modern-day ZINEBI-is celebrating its 60th anniversary. That is why, within the programme of activities designed to highlight this commemoration, the festival has commissioned the young, Basque plastic artist Maite Leyún to take a new aesthetic look at and redesign the Mikeldi (now written with a “k”) trophy. And Koldo Atxaga, also a plastic artist, has been commissioned to create the poster for the 60th anniversary of the festival. A lot can change in 60 years. Almost nothing stays the same after time takes it toll over such a long period. However, at ZINEBI, there is an idea that has remained unchanged in the minds of all the organizers of this festival from 1959 right up to today: the idea that the Bilbao film festival is committed to the culture and the cinematographic and audio-visual industry of the Basque Country while it also works every day to present the latest trends in contemporary world cinema in Bilbao, to pay attention to emerging filmmakers from the five continents and to boost the presence and prestige of our city on the international panorama. Maite Leyún (1986) holds a degree and PhD in Fine Arts from the University of the Basque Country, specialising in contemporary ceramics. Her work centres on ceramics as a starting point and is complemented by other multidisciplinary work. Both the materials she uses and the forms she pursues are always connected to contemporary reality, ignoring the borders created between sculpture, installation, design, performance and manual work. Her objective is to create pieces that are capable of simultaneously being question and questioning. Throughout her career, she has displayed her work at different national and international exhibitions, including Premio Máximo Ramos (Ferrol), the Bienal Internacional Cerámica (Marratxí), the Concurso Internacional de Cerámica (L´Alcora)-all in 2018-and Gureak Euskaditik Mexikora (Mexico DF) in 2014 and Progress in work. Work in crisis (Limoges and Bilbao) in 2013, amongst others. She has also exhibited individually with Not a Pot at ICSHU (Hungary). She has received different awards and grants, including the BilbaoArte Foundation Grant in 2013 and a Residential Scholarship to the International Ceramic Studio in 2012. Her artistic work is complemented with different projects relating to the field of design, teaching and research.