The SAMB in short
SAMB is the french association "Société des Amis du Musée Basque".
It aims at contributing to the increase of collections, to the life and influence of the Basque Museum (Art. 1 Regulations). It includes all the people (about 450 members up to now) interested in the Basque patrimony and the cultural diversity of the area.
It supports the studies made about it . It participates in an active way to the cultural life, especially throughout the publication of the Basque Museum review and other documents (Art. 2 Regulations).
Apart from the original activities set up in the museum itself, the gift of works of art, we provide the publication of the Basque Museum review. This one has been edited for more than 80 years, sent to the members and shared with many other publications which enable to make the Documentary Center of the museum richer.
We organize meetings and visits always trying to give a context to the collections of this ethnological and historical museum. We hold our general meeting in every part of the Basque Country, either North or South in order to delocalize the museum.
The history of the museum
Founded in 1956, under the influence of General AUBLET, the "SAMB" aims at "gathering around the objects of the museum all the people who like to take care of the cultural resources of our area, supporting the museum thanks to either a physical help or moral influence, developing for the public and especially for young people and pupils a liking for regional studies".
In 1964 thanks to Jean Haritschelhar, the "SAMB" launched again the Basque Museum review which had been stopped in 1944.
The Society had deep links with the Basque Museum till 1989 when the museum closed for safety reasons as major works had to be done in the Dagourette House where the Museum was located. The closing of the Museum was for some of us the right time to wonder about its life and the association actively contributed to the debates in order to make it open again. During those 12 years when the Museum stayed closed, the "SAMB" kept an eye on it and even if all the wishes had not been fulfilled it kept on struggling to see the main lines maintained.
The re-opening of the Museum in 2001 led the association to re-define its role.
In 2002 it signed a convention with the city of Bayonne to set up their collaboration. That was a success and the" SAMB" was granted the right to have free entrance in the Museum as an acknowledgment to its contribution to the life of the Museum
(Summary of the history, in french).
A working party composed of the city of Bayonne, the County Council of Pyrénées- Atlantiques and the urban communityof Bayonne -Anglet- Biarritz has been running the Bask Museum since 2007. An agreement between the association and this party will stand in for the previous one.
Our association has been established as a public charity thanks to an order dating from March 5th 2008 and published in the Official Journal on March 7th 2008 . It makes the partnership and sponsorship much easier, a sponsorship for which a special commission had been set up in 2006.

  ASSOCIATION LIFE
Organisation
  Three councils are in charge to manage the association and its activities. Commissions (Friends , elected members or not) are set up according to the needs.
Look at all the members of these councils.
The Board of Directors
It is composed of 24 members at the most (a third of it is renewed each year) and meets 4 or 5 times a year according to the bureau's will. Here is the list of the members of the Board (2008).
The Bureau
It is elected every year by the Board of Directors. It meets at least once a month and if necessary up, on the President's notification
The Reading Committee of the Bulletin
It meets 5 or 6 times a year. It reads the different typesripts, sets up each issue and decides about the policy of the publication.
To make better news spreading, the Friends receive the "gazette" Gogoan which is launched 2 or 3 times a year.

   NEWS
Please look at somme pictures

  OUR PARTNERS

    FEELING LIKE JOINING US ?
If you want to share our passion and ambitions, you are welcome !