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The Borderland Foundation and the Centre "Borderland - of Arts, Cultures and Nations", together with the persons and organizations cooperating with us in our work on the practice of the idea of peaceful and creative coexistence of people of different religions and nations, have the great honour to announce that “The Borderlander” award for the year 2008 has been conferred on Professor Claudio Magris. The title of Borderlander is awarded every two years. It is not connected with any material award. The title stands for an obligation on our part to popularize the work of the laureate, organization of concerts, symposia, exhibitions and other artistic presentations, realization of educational programmes or film projects, publications of books or other forms of artistic expression. Through rich and varied presentation of his/her spiritual path and challenges it presents to the contemporary world, we try to spread the ethos of the borderlands as testified in the work and life of those who have managed to face Otherness. To date the title has been conferred on: in 1999 – Jerzy Ficowski, a poet and writer, discoverer and popularizer of the works by Bruno Schulz; the author of pioneering works about history and culture of the Roma people in Poland, and translator of the Yiddish poetry; in 2001 - Tomas Venclova, a poet and essayist, historian of literature and translator, known as the grateful son of three literatures: Lithuanian, Polish and Russian which all meet in Vilnius, the city whose multicultural heritage he strives to protect and continue; in 2003 - Arvo Pärt, a composer of religious music, creator of a unique, idiosyncratic musical language, at the same time a conscious and devoted continuator of the rich Judaeo-Christian tradition; in 2005-6 – Bohdan Osadczuk – political scientist, journalist, and a tireless animator of Polish-Ukrainian dialogue; "East European" from the divided Berlin, who took up the work of raising the awareness of the public opinion on both sides of the Cold War conflict to the fact that the division of the continent is only a temporary phenomenon. The ceremony of conferring the title of the "Borderlander" takes place during the special ceremony organised in the town of Sejny in Poland, where the Borderland Foundation is based. The ceremony is accompanied by a series of activities devoted to the recognition and dissemination of the laureate's ideas and work. All events take place at the building of White Synagogue in Sejny and the nearby premises of the former Camaldolese monastery at the Lake Wigry. White Synagogue in Sejny was built between 1860-1870 from the initiative of rabbi Moses Becalel Luri. During the WW2 the Nazis devastated the synagogue and set a fire station there. After the war the building was reconstructed and has been used as a warehouse and a garage. Refurbishing works started in 1978 and have finished in 1987. In 1988, this the building became a municipal cultural centre. Nowadays it is used by the centre "Borderland of Arts, Cultures and Nations" as a concert hall, gallery, and a meeting place. Brick and orientated synagogue building was erected in the rectangle of 19x25,8 meters, with elements of neoclassicism and neogothic. Interior is tri-nave, covered with wooden dome, supported on four pillars, between which the bimah was placed. In the eastern wall, the Aron Kodesh niche had been preserved. Former Camaldolese monastery at the Lake Wigry is one of the most interesting attractions of the Wigry National Park in north-east Poland. The Camaldolese - founders of the Suwalki city - came here in 1668. The monastery, built in 17th and 18th centuries, includes the church and hermitages located on a peninsula in Wigry lake. In 1960s, the monastery has been turned into a residence place for writers and other artists. Piłsudskiego 37, 16-500 Sejny, Poland tel./fax: +48 87 516 2765
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