Transcript
And I say that you here have heart and we have a stronger soul. The Slavic soul is something you recognise in the eyes of all Slavs — they have a little bit of nostalgia, but also joy for life.
Casa Eslava opens its doors… for the Orthodox New Year, which falls on the thirteenth of January. Hundreds of people from Serbia, Poland, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Croatia will share the celebration with a group of Catalans, marking the start of the association's activities.
This is not a typical New Year, at least that is what I call it. Because it no longer exists: before there was the Julian calendar and now we have the Gregorian. For a long time, we Orthodox followed the Orthodox calendar, which was the old one; so there is a difference of two weeks. Now it is fading; it is still done in Russia and the former Yugoslavia, but it is starting to disappear.
It is also a way for all of us to come together here, now that the holidays have begun. Catholic Christmas, then traditional New Year's Eve; the 6th of January was Orthodox Christmas and now we finish with Orthodox New Year. And so the holidays end; we begin to work.
For now, Casa Eslava will add nostalgia to folklore and aims to establish itself as an active culture within Catalan society.
It was born from the friendship of three friends — two Catalans and one Serbian. We realised that we do not know many Slavs. The thing is, most Slavs adapt so well to the new culture and society that they do not see us.
So we are part of their city. Even fellow Serbs — I do not know many, because they are integrated. When we speak with people here and say "Slavs", most say "Russians". And they are not only Russians: they are Russians, Ukrainians, from the former Yugoslavia, from Czechia, from Poland, from Bulgaria… we are many. We thought it would be a good idea to build a bridge between the cultures living in Barcelona and Slavic cultures.
First, so that Slavs themselves begin to see each other. Then we can offer the people here theatre, music, books, gatherings, folk dances.
Now we will offer Spanish and Catalan classes to people who come, but also Slavic language classes to people here who want to learn them. Catholic Saint George is on the 23rd of April and Orthodox Saint George is on the 6th of May. Between these two dates will be Slavic Spring. Every year, in spring, we have a Slavic country as our guest, and every autumn a cultural caravan from here goes to that country as host.
To present what we have here. Because, for example, when I say I live in Catalonia, people ask me about Serbia, but they have not seen it in person. So this year it is Serbia's turn to be both guest and host.
We believe that the future lies in all cultures, that we have to live together. Because each one brings something, and if we destroy this, if we cancel it, it will not be good for Catalonia or for us. But if we live together, one culture alongside another, then yes.