Vilnius and Warsaw – the celebrations of the anniversary of the city-to-city cooperation

To mark the 15^th anniversary of the cooperation between two cities – Vilnius and Warsaw – Warsaw Days will be celebrated in the capital city of Lithuania. The cooperation agreement between the partner cities will be extended. On April 11^th in Vilnius it will be signed by Mayor Artūras Zuokas and the President of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz. On Wednesday (3^th April) Vilnius councillors at the consecutive City Council Meeting had agreed such agreement to be signed.

“It was good, it will be better” – shortly summed up this decision Jarosław Kamiński, the Deputy Mayor of Vilnius and a Pole from the Polish party AWPL.

The previous agreement from 1998 (the Treaty on friendship and cooperation) was elaborated in several points. “The cooperation between our cities applies to various fields: culture, tourism. education, the protection of historical heritage, the exchange of experiences, so it influences the development of Polish-Lithuanian relations positively” – added Jarosław Kamiński. “We will be striving to strengthen the cooperation between our two capital cities and thereby to support relations development between the two countries – assured the Deputy Mayor of Vilnius.

Vilnius signed cooperation agreements with thirty cities in the world; most, however, with the  cities of Poland: Warsaw, Kraków, Gdańsk and Łódź.

As part of the celebrations of the 15^th anniversary of the cooperation between Vilnius and Warsaw, on April 11^th the exhibition “Warsaw. The day after…” will be opened in “Vartai” gallery in Vilnius by Mayor Artūras Zuokas and President of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz . The exhibition “Warsaw. The day after…” demonstrates different visions of big metropolis. On the one hand – utopian, constructed in hope of the radical transformation of the city. On the other – dystopian, demonstrating vanishing of the old order. Warsaw becomes the main heroine of the exhibition. Her recent history turns out to be excellent pretext for the conversation on relations between art and architecture, the political dimension of the public sphere, the collapse (and also the life after death) of modernistic tradition. The title alludes to famous film about all-world nuclear apocalypse. “Warsaw. The day after…” links two images: the city and the catastrophe. (We hope that someday Vilnius residents will watch the latest Polish production – film “Warsaw. 1935” and better together with the screening of film from 2010 „City of ruins”…)

Moreover – as part of the celebrations of the 15^th anniversary of the cooperation between Vilnius and Warsaw – the following exhibitions are planned: ”Authentic Jew from the Land of Canaan” in the Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum and the concert of Lithuanian National Orchestra under the baton of Monika Wolińska.

Detailed programme of the celebrations of the 15^th anniversary of the cooperation between Vilnius and Warsaw see here.

Based on: vilnius.lt, inf.wł.

Source: http://www.wilnoteka.lt/pl/artykul/wilno-i-warszawa-obchody-rocznicy-wspolpracy-miast

Tłumaczenie Barbara Rożek w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Barbara Rożek within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.