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15th |
WIGRY NATIONAL PARK
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of "WIGRY"
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Andrzej Strumi³³o
Culure and Art on Lake Wigry
The word Wigry contains the magic lost in the mists of time, echoes of the Jagiellonians’ hunting horns, whispers of Cameldolite prayers and sighs full of humbleness, rumble of gun-fire and explosions of both world wars, which left behind ruins and charred remains. The peninsula surrounded by waters, built up by an isolated Cameldolite monastery and topped with temple towers, being a work of Nature and Man, arouses deepened reflections in everybody who feels and thinks.
On the basis of observations of artists’ activities in natural environment there may be many reflections on interference in and coexistence of the work of people with nature. The symbiosis between the natural beauty, being the work of the Creator and the beauty of art created by sulky and restless man is not always harmonious. Poor, silent nature has to suffer our aggression and blindness patiently. The harmony which it is characterized by should be food for thought for us. Old, wise J.W.Goethe said: “the consistence of nature is wonderfully comforting after the inconsistence of man”.
The decision to include in the Park the cultural landscape, containing harmonious, worked out by generations economic and spatial solutions, was definitely right, and even pioneering in the Park. But it must, inevitably, give rise to serious conflicts of interests and opinions. Their easing and solving is one of important tasks of the Park. It should be remembered that a short-term interest of an individual is often contrary to a social interest, present and future. We should do our best and cause that the freedom of an individual and their unhampered access to property were realized within law which takes into consideration material and aesthetic interests of other Citizens. Also Man-Nature relations should be examined in terms of culture. A higher level of culture and sensitivity makes us respect life around us. The goods of this world, its natural beauty, given to us to care, belong to all living and feeling creatures. The blind and greedy egoism will turn against us sooner or later. It can be stated that a national park’s task is to shape the mentality of its inhabitants, apart from protection of its natural substance. The former is much more difficult.
For nearly thirty years, people from many fields connected with nature and culture have been coming here to attend various meetings, workshops, open-air events and symposia with willingness to serve both, with the conviction of their mutual connections and interrelations. They were motivated by the will to share their skill, knowledge and experience with others. In the years 1977–1990, meetings Culture and Environment were held with participation of eminent representatives of art and science, state and local government employees. Exhibitions and courses were organized, the most important problems of Suwalki and Suwalki Province of the time were discussed.
It can be stated that it was here that initiatives necessary for the establishment of the Mazurski and Suwalki Landscape Parks, the Wigry National Park and the Green Lungs of Poland were born. Cooperation was begun with many universities and learnt institutions in Poland. There was a permanent cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, Faculty of Architecture at Technical Universities of Warsaw and Bialystok. The international workshops of sculpture in stone Integrart, which were organized by the WNP within Kunstring together with the German park in Müritz, were an attempt to continue those events.
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