The Second International Conference "Meetings in Pokuttia - Rafailov Readings 2019" was held at Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University. It is devoted to the issues of cultural heritage in the Eastern Carpathians, the history of its research and civilization infrastructure - crafts, communications, resorts. The main goal of this event is to systematize knowledge and establish contacts between the Polish and Ukrainian researchers of the region, as well as visit historical memorials of the First World War.
Co-organizers of the conference "Meetings in Pokuttia - Rafailova Readings 2019" were the Foundation "Assistance to Poles in the East" and the Institute of Cultural Studies of the Ignatianum Academy in Krakow from the Polish side, and the Center for Polish Culture and European Dialogue in Ivano-Frankivsk, Precarpathian National University and village council of Bystrytsia (formerly Rafailova) from the Ukrainian side.
Jan Sklodowski, head of the Warsaw Society “Res Carpathica”, co-organized the International Conference "Meetings in Pokuttia - Rafailova Readings 2019," said that such studies are very important for preserving the civilization heritage of the Eastern Carpathians. It is not just about culture, but also about roads and railways, oil and gas search, boarding houses and sanatoriums, climatology, spa treatment.
- This is a matter of history, but also an issue of a certain systematization of everything that happened, and then its publication. Outcomes of the conference are publications following each meeting. They remain in libraries, this is the result of work of the people taking part in it, and at the same time, it is an encouragement for others to explore in future " - Yann Sklodovsky emphasized.
At the opening of the conference, the rector of Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, Ihor Tsependa, said that he was fascinated by this project being closely linked to the culture of the frontier. After all, the matter is about uniting Ukrainians with neighboring people.
- If you look at the Ukrainian-Polish relations, both in the history of Ukraine and in the history of Poland, Hutsulshchyna played a special role. Many writers and researchers mentioned this issue. To recall at least Stanislav Vintsenz, who wrote "On a high mountain valley". We continue these projects, they allow us to understand the past, save the inheritance and predict the future, because there are themes that unite. In the Ukrainian-Polish relations there are topics that divide. Instead, we are looking for those topics that really unite, and make it possible to understand that together we create political, economic and cultural power" - Ihor Tsepend said.
- The conference, which is starting today, is a very good platform for such scientific meetings. Often, it seems to young people that topics explored at such conferences are not very interesting. Few young people are engaged in research on the Eastern Carpathians, but the effects of publications, research, projects implemented at the international level, give results, which will later become a legacy for future generations, - Mariia Osidach, director of the Center for Polish Culture and European Dialogue in Ivano-Frankivsk, noted at the opening of the conference.
The conference "Meetings in Pokuttia - Rafailova Readings 2019" also partly took place in the territory of modern Bystrytsia (former Rafailova).
In the framework of the conference the opening of the photo exhibition of Jacek Vnuk "Eastern Carpathians" was held at the Center for Polish Culture and European Dialogue