The Lutosławski Concert Studio in Warsaw hosted a special ceremony on December 11 that officially concluded the Kolberg Year celebrations. Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Professor Małgorzata Omilanowska, presided over the ceremony, handing the awards and medals to a number of laureates. Minister Omilanowska noted that:
The organizers of the Kolberg Year had succeeded in presenting more than the standard interpretation of Kolberg’s opus. […] I believe that thanks to this group effort by various institutions and artists who presented Kolberg’s works throughout the year, the folk aspects of Kolberg’s art had reached beyond the expected tastes of the audiences.
The Kolberg Awards for Folk Art were given to sculptor Mieczysław Gaja, potter Jan Jurek, musician and choreographer Jan Kania, folk instrument maker Jerzy Walkusz, folk poet Barbara Krajewska, the Trebunio-Tutka Family folk music ensemble, the Boczki Chełmońskie Regional Dance Ensemble, ethnomusicologist and journalist for Polish Radio Maria Baliszewska, choreographer and lecturer Anatol Kocyłowski, to the Kaszubski Park Narodowy Museum, and to the Polish Radio Rzeszów.
The December 11 event also included a presentation of Glora Artis medals. The Gold Gloria Artis was given to Prof. Jan Święch. The Silver Gloria Artis went to Prof. Andrzej Bieńkowski, Kazimierz Albin Budzik, Zbigniew Butryn, Janusz Jaskulski, Tadeusz Jedynak, Mirosław Nalaskowski and Zofia Pacan. Katarzyna Markiewicz, Alicja Mironiuk-Nikolska, Stanisław Pietras, Janusz Prusinowski, Krzysztof Trebunia-Tutka and Marta Walczak-Stasiowska received Bronze Gloria Artis medals.
2014 marked Kolberg’s bicentennial and the year was filled with a number of concerts, educational initiatives, theatre premieres, festivals, workshops, competitions and recordings. A new internet site was launched as well as an interactive Kolberg Guide around Poland. Kolberg’s tomb at Rakowicki Cemetery in Kraków was renovated, his writings were published and all extant manuscripts were digitalized and made accessible to the public. The Institute of Music and Dance coordinated the celebrations financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The Kolberg Year also enjoyed honorary patronage from UNESCO and the official summary of the bicentennial celebrations will be made in February 2015.
More information on the Kolberg Year can be found at: www.kolberg2014.org.pl
[Sources: polmic.pl, kolberg2014.org.pl; Photo: Bartłomiej Sawka Cinefoto © Instytut Muzyki i Tańca viakolberg2014.org.pl]