- February 22, 2013
- 243
Polish perspective depicted at concert
At the beginning of January the Polish embassy in Vilnius announced a series of events dedicated to the Polish image on its social networking site. One of the events, called “Polish-Lithuanian relations: Polish perspective” took place in an upper secondary school in Vilnius (Senamiesčio vidurinė mokykla).
In January the school announced a drawing competition called “How I see Poland”, and thanks to a fruitful cooperation of Małgorzata Mozyro, a clerk at the Polish embassy, and Žilvinas Radavičius, an informal educator, the event was held on February 22nd.
It consisted of poetry readings in Polish, Russian and Lithuanian languages, a dancing performance of “Šokio žingsnis” group as well as Rafal Jackiewicz’s and Julius Ivaškevičius’ (saxophone and accordion respectively) rendition of “Pożegnanie Ojczyzny”, a polonaise by Michał Kleofas Ogiński. There was also an exhibition of the best works submitted to the drawing competition.
“It is not the first event organised together with the Polish embassy. Our cooperation began with the unveiling of a plaque in St. Rafael’s church, which commemorated the victims of the Katyn massacre. One of the most important events in which we participated was the “Grunwald Oak” where we planted an oak commemorating the Battle of Grunwald. The concept of today’s performance came up spontaneously during a conversation with Małgorzata Mozyro on a social networking site. I suggested organising a drawing contest, a meeting of children with intellectuals and a closing concert,” explained Radavičius on the day of the event.
He emphasised that within the framework of informal education it is important for students to meet intellectuals who can be an example for children. Such meetings should be direct and informal, so that a student can shake hands with the intellectuals and ask them questions.
The honoured guests were: The dean of the Vilnius branch of the University of Białystok, Jarosław Wołkonowski, Oksana Černovskaja the director of “Lietfilmas” company, who performed a Polish song, Jonas Ragauskas, the president of Lietuvos bajorų karališkoji sąjunga (confederation of Lithuanian nobility), Adas Jakubauskas, representative of Tatars in Lithuania and representatives of the Polish ambassady in Vilnius.
Tłumaczenie Aleksandra Christ w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Aleksandra Christ the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.
