International award for Polish cultural centre
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
10.03.2018 11:00
The Borderland Centre in north-eastern Poland has received the 2018 award of the European Cultural Foundation, known as the Princess Margriet Award.
Image: pogranicze.sejny.pl
Princess Margriet of the Netherlands, the foundation’s former president, has long been committed to fostering the role of culture in invigorating democracy in Europe. Established 10 years ago, the award “honours inspiring examples of people and organisations who, with courage and creative power, imagine new paths for Europe.”
Based in the town of Sejny in the north-easternmost corner of Poland, the Borderland Centre is both an NGO and a local centre for cultural encounters, creation and reflection in a region of cultural and ethnic diversity.
The centre runs a wide range of activities such as exhibitions, a youth theatre and an internationally renowned klezmer orchestra that draws on the tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern Europe.
The Borderland Centre also hosts workshops and symposia on cross-cultural dialogue.
The other recipient of the award is Forensic Architecture, a multidisciplinary research group based at Goldsmiths University in London.
Each laureate receives EUR 25,000 in prize money.
The awards ceremony, with the participation of Princess Margriet, will be held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on May 16.
(mk/gs)