I. & J. Sosnowski |
In January of this year, the Senior Ensemble of Lajkonik travelled to Adelaide to participate in Polart 2009. Prior to that, in October 2008, Lajkonik applied to the Blum Foundation for support to undertake a Special Project which would extend from the fact that our Ensemble would be in Adelaide at this time, and only a couple of hours away from the Polish Hill River Church Museum.
We applied to take photos of Lajkonik youth in Polish costume under the specific theme: “The Fourth Wave – Youth with Polish background learning about their Polish heritage in Australia”.
And that’s what we did:
It was quite a hot Sunday on 3 January 2010 when we loaded up the bus with youth and costumes, and were driven out to Polish Hill River by one of our fathers, Krzysiu Wojcik, in our little 20-seater Budget bus hired for the duration of our Adelaide stay during Polart 2009/2010. Arriving at around 12 noon at the Museum, we were met by Irena Sosnowska and her husband, Jan. There was a bit of time for a briefing from Irena about the Museum and the history of the area (especially about the 3 waves of Polish settlement – ie 19th Century, Post World War II, and 1980’s as part of the Solidarity movement), and then we were kindly given lunch Polish kielbaski (sausages) and salads prepared by the Sosnowskis.
After lunch and further chats, the youth dressed in various Polish costumes (Opoczynskie, Krakowskie, Goralskie) posed for a series of photos which Lajkonik is now officially donating to the Museum in the year of its 30-year Anniversary of being declared a Heritage Item.
After our photos at Polish Hill River Church Museum, we also drove to the Sevenhill Winery and some photos were taken in those grounds, in front of the Church of St Aloysius (completed 1875), and amongst the vines. Thanks to Zofia Manche, one of our mothers, for her endurance and patience in trying to get the best shots possible.
Following our visit, we received a lovely letter from Irena Sosnowska which stated: First let me thankyou for taking the time to come out to the museum with the group of young people, and having a photo shoot in our grounds. They were a great bunch and were much appreciated by our other visitors who were lucky enough to be there at that time and be allowed to also photograph them with their own cameras.
I hope you all enjoyed the day with us and maybe learned a little about the Polish settlers of old as well as our current ones.
Relaxing at Seven Hill Winery |
It is Lajkonik’s pleasure now, to donate a CD of our Polish Hill River, and some from Sevenhill, to the Museum Committee, on the occasion of the 30-Year Anniversary of Polish Hill River Church Museum being identified on the State Heritage List. One of the best photos will be presented in a photo frame with the names of the youth and the date of our visit.
I would like to thank the youth and parents of Lajkonik for their contribution to the Project, especially Zofia Manche who took the archival photos, and of course, acknowledge the support of the Blum Foundation in making the Project possible. We thank Irena and Jan Sosnowski for their hospitality and kindness on the day of Lajkonik’s visit.
Urszula Lang
October 2010
Lajkonik Senior Ensemble in front of St. Aloysius Church at Seven Hill |
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