Lina Kostenko’s poetry inspires establishing of Ukrainian Culture Center in Warsaw
Activists record a video in which representatives of various nations recite the poem “Life goes on without correction” to the poetess’s birthday
Do you remember the great success enjoyed by the video Love Ukraine, in which foreigners recited Volodymyr Sosiura’s poem? So, in the video uploaded by CUK.or representatives of different nationalities recite Lina Kostenko’s poetry. Over three days (by March 21) the video has been viewed by more than 3,000 users on YouTube.
The video was presented for public eye during the soiree dedicated the poetess’s birthday on March 19 in Warsaw. On the same evening the Ukrainian Youth Theater showed a production based on Lina Kostenko’s poetry. Actually, the idea to create CUK.or and make the abovementioned video was born during the preparations for the celebration.
“Several months ago I read in the Vkontakte networking group of admirers of Lina Kostenko’s creative work that people in different cities of Ukraine were going to congratulate her on her birthday. After that I decided that we needed to invent something interesting in Warsaw, because the fact that we reside far from home does not mean that we read and love Kostenko less,” the initiator of the video Natalia PANCHENKO said, “That was the moment when the idea to organize a literary soiree dedicated to her creative work emerged. As most of us were playing in the Ukrainian Theater in Warsaw, we decided to make some kind of show. Later our director Zoriana Skalych came up with an idea to stage Life as a Railroad Station.”
According to Natalia, it was already during the preparations for the evening that the idea to establish “Centrum Ukrainskiej Kultury.osrodek rozwoju” (Ukrainian Culture Center. Cell of Development) in Warsaw emerged. “I don’t know how the idea to make a video poem emerged: it appeared on its own. We wanted to congratulate Kostenko in a special way,” she said, “Besides it is apparently a new attempt to remind Ukrainians of the beauty of our language, significance of poetry and the importance of appreciating and respecting great persons in their lifetime.”
Most of foreigners who recited the poem “Life goes on without correction” are acquaintances or friends of the organizers’ friends. But a Russian guy and a Japanese girl were accidental passers-by whom the organizers asked for help right in the middle of the street.
“When Chi Sakue agreed to help us, we explained to her the content of the poem and what exactly she was going to recite. She was astonished and said, ‘Oh, beautiful words!’ Then we came up with a phrase to be said at the end of the video: ‘Her words pierce every heart.’”
Incidentally, all the participants asked for an explanation of what the poem is about, after which they inquired where they could read other works of the poetess. Natalia says, the organizers printed for them some poems in Polish – and they liked her poetry a lot.
You can see the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DiL7QHwsbI&feature=share. Soon CUK.or is going to upload the whole video recording of the soiree dedicated to Lina Kostenko’s birthday.
