The first publication, presented on 13 June, is entitled “The St. Wyspiański Youth Cultural Centre in Bolesławiec 1954–2014” and was published to mark the anniversary of the institution’s establishment. It is the first such comprehensive study, presenting both the history and the contemporary face of the Youth Cultural Centre, which tens of thousands of young residents of Bolesławiec have attended over 60 years.
The publication is divided into several chapters. The first presents the institution’s history, compiled on the basis of chronicles. The next two contain the memories of former directors and students of the Youth Cultural Centre. The subsequent part presents the institution’s contemporary face. In addition to descriptions of the activities of individual studios and the achievements of its students, it also contains statements from people currently attending classes at the Youth Cultural Centre, as well as a list of the studios. Part of the text is devoted to the operation of the Old Theatre. The publication contains more than 100 black-and-white and colour illustrations.
The second publication will be released on 21 June and will accompany the exhibition “From Bosnia to Bolesławiec. Memories of Re-emigrants from Yugoslavia”. In album form, it presents several dozen photographs depicting the lives of Poles in Bosnia. These are mainly family photographs brought by people who settled in Bolesławiec and the surrounding villages after the Second World War.
The publication also includes a brief historical text describing the fate of Poles who reached the Balkans at the end of the 19th century, information on the history of the Association of Re-emigrants from Bosnia and Their Descendants and Friends, as well as memoirs. The publication will accompany an exhibition presented during Bolesławiec Days in an exhibition tent at Father Jerzy Popiełuszko Square in Bolesławiec and then, until the end of July, made available to visitors at the Municipal Public Library on Sądowa Street. The initiative received the honorary patronage of Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman.
The promotion of the third publication will take place on 22 June at 1:00 p.m. at the “Orzeł” Cultural Integration Centre. “Saving from Oblivion. Memories of Bolesławiec Residents from the Eastern Borderlands” presents more than 60 biographies of people who spent their childhood in the Eastern Borderlands, along with interesting photographic material. The book contains 208 pages. The publication was created as part of a project carried out by Municipal Lower Secondary School No. 2 named after Poles Deported to Siberia, in cooperation with the Society of Friends of Lviv and the South-Eastern Borderlands and the Museum of Ceramics in Bolesławiec.
Seventeen teachers and 99 primary, lower-secondary and upper-secondary school students were involved in creating the publication; they collected materials and photographs and conducted interviews. The project “Saving from Oblivion” received the honorary patronage of Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman and the Polish Army Museum in Warsaw.
(commissioned information: Museum of Ceramics)