The 10 years spent in Luxembourg have not only made me aware of how much Poland and Luxembourg have in common, but they have also made me realize that the best way to celebrate the third edition of the Festival of Polish Culture in Luxembourg would be (but of course!) to bring Polish and Luxembourgish artists together. “Kultura meets Kultur” – as has been the case for years, or centuries perhaps. Just as it happened at the beginning of the last century, in the days of one of the greatest composers of Luxembourg, the director of the Conservatory in Esch-sur-Alzette, Alfred Kowalsky, at the time when the Polish emigrant population in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was more than three times more numerous than today.

At present, Luxembourg is inhabited by approximately 3,000 Poles. They call the Grand Duchy their second home, keeping its doors wide open to the local culture, to all kinds of exchange and cooperation with their Luxembourgish hosts. At the same time Luxembourg recognizes the Polish contribution to the European and world culture, and Polish music and art are generally present wherever culture is happening in Luxembourg. I am convinced that we – both the public and artists, Poles and Luxembourgers – are now ready to see a “Kultura meets Kultur” meeting. This is why the programme I have proposed for the 3rd Festival of Polish Culture in Luxembourg is a programme that was born from the Polish-Luxembourgish cooperation: concerts of classical music (in the Philharmonic), jazz and sung poetry (in Abbaye de Neumünster), folk (in Tramsschapp) and rock (in Melusina). Actually, see for yourself: have a look at the programme, come to the events of this year’s Festival, and most of all – have a lot of fun! For us, Poles living in Luxembourg who have organised this Festival, this is the ultimate goal.

Marcin Wierzbicki
Director of the Festival of Polish Culture
in Luxembourg