Fer país!

Catalan to English Art/Literary Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting Cultural nationalism? For the sake of writing something!

***Fer país!*** Aquesta premissa és la principal impulsora del reconeixement que aquesta exposició dedica als 50 anys de la trajectòria profesional de xxxxxxxxxxxx (AN ARTIST). (FIRST PARAGRAPH)

(THE ARTIST) ès, també, un element enriquidor per a la nostra societat. Els seus èxits són els nostres

Volem agrair la complicitat que des de xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ha impulsat aquesta oportunitat de descobrir una trajectòria de la que sentir-se'n orgullós com a poble, com a país. (LAST PARAGRAPH)

(I have included further extracts to give a better idea of the expression I am strggling with, taken from the preface to the catalogue of an exhibition of an artist's work)
I would be very grateful indeed for any ideas. Thanks in advance.

Proposed translations (English)

Nation building

Berni Armstrong

Discussion

Rick Larg (asker) Mar 15, 2011: @wordalia Thanks to both you and Berni for taking the trouble. In the end I took up the 'proud' theme and put "Pride in one's country!" (no brackets in the end), which fits the text, although I imagine a purist would say that it is a rather free translation!
Josh Goldsmith Mar 14, 2011: @ Rick Thanks for the clarifications, and sorry for my Catalonia-centric assumptions. I didn't know they said "fer país" in "ses illes." :-) Reading your suggestions, I also thought about "Make your country proud"/"do your country proud". I'll keep thinking and get back in touch if other ideas pop into my head.
Rick Larg (asker) Mar 14, 2011: @ wordalia Thank you very much for your suggestions. This is not actually the title of the exhibition (I didn’t mean to give that impression. I’m sorry), nor is it in Catalonia (so the final offering has to be a little more generalised. Out here in Les Illes, we are sometimes a little wary of Catalan nation building, as we don’t want to be engulfed!). I will probably end up leaving it in Catalan but would like a snappier bracket filler – if you see what I mean. You will see why I threw in the towel, so to speak, and asked my question when you read my earlier pathetic efforts below for a sloganish type of phrase. Note that the original even has an exclamation mark! Make your country great! / Be proud of your country! / Make your country’s culture better known!
Josh Goldsmith Mar 14, 2011: In my experience, this expression is almost impossible to translate, since it refers to a historical movement. I prefer to leave it in the Catalan and provide a parenthetical explanation, if you can. I once had to provide a translation, and, having looked back through my files, see that I went with the quite tame "defend and promote the interests of Catalonia." That won't work for the title of the exhibition, though. Do you have to translate this phrase? Could you leave it in the original Catalan? If not, I'll throw out a few ideas to get the conversation started: "building a nation" or"strengthening a nation" or "nation building" (obviously not the same, but pretty common in politics-speak...)