In Sejny, Poland
The Foundation’s program activity is devoted exclusively to propagating the ethos of the borderland, and to building bridges between the peoples of different religions, ethnicities, nationalities, and cultures. The aim of the Foundation is to use cultural and educational programs to help the people of the region, and particularly the young generation, to get to know, understand and respect their own history, as well as the history, culture and traditions of their neighbours. Of special importance for the Foundation are the reinvention of Jewish culture in the region and the rediscovery of this heritage. The Borderland Foundation believes that by understanding our neighbours, past or present, we can learn how to co-exist peacefully and relate to each other.
The Place
Borderland Foundation is situated in Sejny in north-east Poland. The town was chosen because its location in the borderlands of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and Russia. The environs still contain many traces of different cultures including those of Polish, Lithuanians, Jews, Russian Old Believers, Belarussians, Romas, Germans, Ukrainians, Tatars and Karaites. In the town of Sejny the White Synagogue recalls the Jewish presence, the Evangelical church the Protestants, whilst the present day population is primarily Polish and Lithuanian. The Foundation’s location enables it to study and learn from the many different cultural and ethnic groups, religions and traditional practices that make up the region.
The leading element of our open laboratory will be Word - work on language which combines and names what is common; on the dictionary which invokes often unremembered or falsified words without which building of the space of dialogue would be impossible; on the expression and visualization of language, the tool of reconciliation, conversation or meeting.
Contact: Ksenija Konopek
Email: ksenija@pogranicze.sejny.pl
www.progranicze.sejny.pl
