Lublin: Seminar „Working with »difficult memory« in local communities. Polish-Ukrainian exchange of experiences”

Maria Zawadzka, 16 November 2016
Between September 15th and 19th, 2010 the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre will organize in Lublin a seminar entitled „Working with »difficult memory« in local communities. Polish-Ukrainian exchange of experiences”. All teachers and animators who would like to participate in this event can download an application form on the website of the project “Lights in the Darkness – The Righteous Among the Nations”. The seminar is organized in cooperation with the “Panorama of Cultures” Association and the Center of Youth Initiatives “Totem”.

The seminar is a summary of a Polish-Ukrainian cooperation that has been lasting since September 2009 as part of the project “Lights in the Darkness – The Righteous Among the Nations”. In May 2010 representatives of the “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre visited Ukraine. Meetings with partners of the project took place and stories of the Ukrainian Righteous were recorded. Non-governmental organizations, teachers and students participated in documentative, educational and animation activities, focusing on the subject of “difficult memory” in local communities. The seminar is supposed to present a two-sided perspective in educational and animation activities based on local history and cultural heritage. Its goal is also to help searching for common grounds to develop the cooperation between partners from Poland and Ukraine. During the seminar there will be a panel discussion entitled “Difficult memory of the Righteous Among the Nations – Polish and Ukrainian historical perspective”, the screening of a film devoted to Lidia Postołowska, a Righteous from Winnica, and a presentation of the program “Polish Righteous – Recalling Forgotten History” of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews.

The “Grodzka Gate – NN Theatre” Centre has been carrying out the project “Lights in the Darkness – The Righteous Among the Nations” since 2007. One of its partners is the Museum of the History of Polish Jews. The project is a continuation of earlier initiatives of the Centre devoted to the problem of recalling memory. Its roots are in the Mystery "One World - Two Temples" (2000), in which participated Holocaust survivors with their families, Righteous Among the Nations and youth from Lublin. The goal of this event was to restore the memory about the common life of Poles and Jews before the Second World War and to show that these two cultures and religions coexisted in Lublin. More information and the exact program of the seminar can be found on the official website of the project “Lights in the Darkness – The Righteous Among the Nations”.