This year, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the sisterhood between Škofja Loka Public Library Ivan Tavčar from Slovenia and Public library of Panevėžys municipality from Lithuania.
During this time, we have gotten to know each other well, visited each other, exchanged 18 exhibitions, and carried out several other notable projects. We have discovered that Slovenians and Lithuanians have much in common from a historical and ethnological point of view. Library users in both countries have had the opportunity to learn about the people and culture of a nation from another part of Europe. The two countries are very different in terms of natural features; flat Lithuania and predominantly mountainous and hilly Slovenia, but the people share many common customs and habits.
Both nations have had to fight throughout history for their state and for the preservation of their language and literature. Lithuanian is spoken by three million people, while Slovenian is spoken by only two million. Literature and domestic writters and artists have always been the foundation of national consciousness.
We have found that the library network and access to library stock in both countries are very good, and both nations place great importance on making knowledge accessible to everyone (including vulnerable groups).
Librarians in both countries are deeply committed to our work, and in addition to basic activities, we offer a wide range of cultural events, exhibitions, and activities for users. At beginning of our sisterhood, for the first meeting, aiming to introduce ourselves to each other and the readers, we exchanged exhibitions that tell the history of our countries.
Slovenians presented to Lithuanians the exhibition of photographer Jure Nastran, who took photographs of the Škofja Loka Passion Play – a narrative about a folk play performed as a procession. It takes place in the streets of the town’s medieval centre during Lent and Easter. The Škofja Loka Passion Play, based on the ancient works of a Capuchin monk, demonstrates 13 scenes of the stations of the cross. Its inscription on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage also shows how exceptional it is. Lithuanians also presented a historical exhibition – the retro photo session of the Evening Gatherings in Puziniškis, taken in the surroundings of the manor of writer G. Petkevičaitė-Bitė. (Photo by G. Lukoševičius). In the early 20th century, gatherings of the enlightened society of that time took place in the manor. These were the first exhibitions, successfully traveling to both countries, providing much joy of discovery for the visitors of both libraries, and it was decided to exchange such exhibitions annually.
February is historically very important for both countries. On February 8th Slovenia celebrates Prešeren Day, the Slovene Cultural Holiday . It’s marking the anniversary of the death of the Slovenian national poet France Prešeren. One of his poems became the national anthem. Lithuania celebrates the Restoration of the State of Lithuania on February 16th. On that day, Lithuania became independent after about 120 years of being part of Russia.
And so, we began exchanging exhibitions specifically in February, and we continue to do so to this day. Thanks to the librarians from Škofja Loka, visitors of the Panevėžys district public library had the chance to learn about the history of this region, for example, in the “Living by Sora River” exhibition, which featured both photo documentation and the artistic photography exhibition “Škofja Loka in the Embrace of the Sora River” by Avgust Babnik. They also learned about the annual “Reading Mountains Festival” during which literature from Alpine countries is presented, and the International Mountain Day is celebrated.
Lithuanians had the opportunity to become acquainted with the works of various Slovenian creators: Martin Eniko’s drawings, the works of Slovenian students in the “Škofja Loka Old Town through the Eyes of Students” exhibition, the works of Nuša Jurjevič, and this year watercolor artists’ creations.
The most impressive exhibition was Simon Šubic’s postcard exhibition “With Best Wishes.” Self-taught artist Simon Šubic is famous for his painted pictures, the motifs of which he later uses in his postcards. These postcards reflect the past, folk traditions, everyday life, and holidays, preserving the memory of times gone by. (Library visitors described the artist’s works as “Returns to Childhood”).
From Lithuania to Slovenia traveled G. Lukoševičius’s photo exhibition on canvas, “Lithuania to the World,” the photo exhibition of straw sculptures created by the artists of Naujamiestis, “The History of Straw Lights,” Julius Vaupša’s black-and-white photography exhibition “The Ustronė Barn – Vaižganta’s and the Book Smugglers Museum,” depicting Lithuania’s unique historical period of the press ban and the book smugglers who spread Lithuanian literature, as well as nature photographer Algimantas Lūža’s exhibition “Views of the Krekenava Regional Park: Views of the Iso Valley” and folk artist Virginija Jurevičienė’s paper cutting exhibition “Openwork Legends.”
This year, an artistic informational exhibition “Works by Juozas Zikaras, the Symbols of Lithuanian Identity” traveled to Slovenia. Juozas Zikaras is one of Lithuania’s greatest sculptors, born in the Panevėžys district.
Interestingly, this tradition continued even during the pandemic. That year, we exchanged virtual exhibitions. In addition to exchanging numerous exhibitions, we have also launched the following projects:
We handed invitation to visitors from three sister libraries (Škofja Loka Public Library Ivan Tavčar 🇸🇮, Public library of Panevėžys municipality 🇱🇹 and Pyhajoen Kirjasto Library 🇫🇮) to participate in festive exchange. The premise was simple: share and exchange recipes for dishes you most enjoy cooking and eating.
Individuals from each of the three countries eagerly submitted their cherished recipes. We then exchanged recipes and translated them into our languages. From traditional family recipes to modern everyday meals, each recipe offered a glimpse into the culinary traditions of Slovenia, Lithuania, and Finland. Together, we have woven a network of interesting flavors, recipes from three countries. We’ve compiled recipes together into a printed publication and also created English e-version as a downloadable PDF.
Libraries from Škofja Loka and Panevežys held two virtual exchanges of folk tales. We also invited our sister Pyhajoen Kirjasto Library from Finland and our sister Municipal Library Tábor from Czech Republic.
Each library chose a folk tale from their country and created a video of the tale in the language of origin. Folk tales were then shared to sister libraries that then prepared translations, added subtitles to the video in their own language. This way, children could learn about the languages of other nations and enjoy fairy tales from other countries. It is interesting to compare how many similarities or differences there are in our folk tales.
In English language they are presented HERE.
We see how fun and important it is to collaborate and share knowledge, regardless of where we live. Even people from different countries are connected by books and culture, and joint projects and joint activities help us get to know each other better.
Text by Danutė Pamerneckytė from Public library of Panevėžys municipality and Saša Ambrožič from Škofja Loka Ivan Tavčar Public Library
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