Through a project promoted by the Getaria City Council and the Directorate of Ports and Maritime Affairs of the Basque Government, the new work installed by artist Santos Bregaña on the Artzape promenade merges collective memory, maritime heritage, and contemporary art in a space significant to the citizens.
The starting point for the artwork is a humble yet expressive gesture repeated generation after generation on the Artzape promenade: fishermen sharpening their knives there, looking out at the sea, while waiting to go out fishing or discussing their daily affairs. Based on this friction between stone and knife, Bregaña has developed an artistic proposal that combines metal, stone, writing, and music.
Artzape is part of Getaria's maritime history, where the wall, the pier, and daily life have intertwined for centuries. The current promenade is not the original, but it adds another layer to Getaria's history. Generation after generation, fishermen used the promenade to sharpen their knives, converse, and stay alert to the sea conditions. This gesture left its mark on the stone, and Bregaña has drawn inspiration from it to create the artwork, without directly depicting the fishermen.
The sculptural ensemble, located on the west side of the promenade, consists of four bronze pieces. Their eroded and polished forms evoke rocks, sea remnants, or mooring elements. They are open figures, allowing for multiple interpretations and designed to integrate naturally into the environment. The work also features an intervention based on the musical score of Tomas Garbizu's piece Getaria; the lines engraved on the wall offer the graphic representation of music, turning the wall itself into a musical score.
One of the project's unique aspects is that it doesn't just recall a past habit. The limestone elements incorporated into the artwork allow for knife sharpening even today, just as the fishermen of Artzape did for years. The intervention invites citizens and visitors to recreate this historical gesture.
