An organisational meeting was held last week on the European Flags. RE:UNION project, which is co-financed by the SYNERGIE grant programme. The project’s objectives include cooperation between cultural institutions and local authorities associated in the Local Tourist Organisation “Metropolia Lublin” and in the Lublin Metropolitan Area, evaluation of cultural potential, fostering an active participation in culture among the local residents and involving the communities which haven’t engaged in cultural activities yet.
The participants of the working group were eager to join the project and accomplish the goals together, strengthening in this way the Working Group for Culture in the Lublin Metropolitan Area, established on December 18th 2024. Thus, the Regional Working Group for the project was formed. This is a continuation of the work in the Cultural Union of the Metropolitan Area – a declaration of a true and sustainable cooperation within the regional network as a part of the ECoC 2029.
The visit provided an amazing opportunity to exchange experiences and establish cooperation with local leaders, external experts, and the municipal’s residents.
Marek Sztark, project coordinator, writes about the meeting:
Will it be possible to create a unique social mosaic, based on the designs of over 100 personal flags prepared by the inhabitants of the Lublin Region and build a large-scale installation that will be situated in the Lublin city centre? In order to begin preparations for the “European Flags. RE:UNION” project, the people of culture from the 22 municipalities associated in the Lublin Metropolitan Area, directors and employees of cultural institutions, librarians and animators met at the Centre for Culture in Lublin. Maria Sztark, a culture animator from Szczecin, currently working in Warsaw, has successfully taken up the challenge of creating such an installation three times. In 2017, an installation of a hundred personal graphic signs printed on fluttering flags was set up in Golczewo, a small town in Western Pomerania. A year later, for the 100th anniversary of regaining Poland’s independence, a similar one was installed on Solidarity Square (Plac Solidarności) in the center of Szczecin, followed by the most spectacular presentation of over a hundred personal identities displayed on Parade Square (Plac Defilad) in Warsaw. The animator encourages residents to engage in conversations about freedom, common areas, relationships and diversity. Under the direction of graphic designers, participants take part in a series of workshops during which original personal flags are designed.
In the Lublin region, the project is implemented within the SYNERGIE grant programme of the National Centre for Culture, which is a part of the national cultural programme of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, occurring from January 1st to June 30th, 2025. The programme aims to promote European ideas through cultural activities in common spaces, as well as support the implementation of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU’s priorities: social solidarity and community, support for young people in entering the labour market, while at the same time activating and involving all age groups in activities, which aligns with one of the main social concept of UNESCO – “Leaving no one behind”.
The partnership was created by the Local Tourist Organisation “Metropolia Lublin”, the Centre for Culture in Lublin, the Lublin Metropolitan Area Association with the municipalities that signed an agreement of the Union of Culture, and foreign partners: the Lithuanian VsI Kauno biennale from Kaunas and the Ukrainian Choir Kanon from Cherkasy.
The final event, during which the installation will be presented, will take place on May 9th, 2025 on Europe Day, in the center of Lublin. The message of the happening will be the idea of RE:UNION, as stated in the LUBLIN ECoC 2029 application – understood as: integration, merge of broken ties, a dialogue between different cultures and generations, between tradition and modernity, past and future, as well as acceptance of multiple value systems and a new, inclusive social contract. The project is implemented within the preparation process for the celebration of the European Capital of Culture Lublin 2029.
During the meeting, it has been agreed that the workshop cycle will take place in several cities of the Metropolitan Area, from March 20th to March 24th, 2025. The project executors also took part in a study visit in Jastków, where they met with residents who actively engage in culture.
Translated by Zofia Świerszcz
Korekta: Aleksandra Górecka
