June 2007 - Nr. 6
European Community Events
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
There
are small and there are big community events. Some take place in our
intimate ethnic niches, others encompass a continent, such as Europe. All of
them are designed to help culture along and give it meaning. On a larger
scale we witnessed the opening of The EU! – Meet the Europeans. This third
annual Film Fest had a great kick-off party in the heart of the city, the
Peridot Resto Lounge on Bloor Street, near Yonge, above the
Spotted
Dick, a popular watering hole in the English tradition. Peridot however is
very European and chic with very now foods and a great space, including a
terrace overlooking Bloor and the Bay Store across the street. This would
also be a good spot for stargazing during the big film
festival
later in the year! At the party anyone who is somebody in the European
cultural community was there. Dr. Ulrich Schmidt of Germany’s Consulate
General, and Dr. Arpad Soelter,
who
had organized for the 3rd time this event with growing appeal, spoke the
opening words. During the first week films were shown in the Royal, an older
and very quaint theatre on College Street, right in the heart of little
Italy.
| Celebrities & Audience | |
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The first film of course was a German one by Oskar
Roehler, ElementaryParticles / Elemantarteilchen, a moral shocker, if you
will. In it we can observe first hand how mankind is reverting back to
animalism. Sex and instant self-gratification are substitutes for love and
normal human relations; definitely not a film for folks with weak stomachs
and distaste for frontal nudity. The film will have had 3 screenings,
including the one on closing day June 10th. After 18 days of top
notch European films, national hits and international successes will have
graced the Goethe Institute’s screen for the last time, before that part of
the institute will be closed
for
the public together with the gallery space and the library, which will move
in part upstairs to the second floor, which will be reached from University
Ave, around the corner as of July 1st.
Another EU event took place in the Delta Chelsea Inn. The European Chamber of Commerce in Toronto (EUCOCIT), a newer institution, in partnership with the World Trade Centre.
The Toronto Board of Trade hosted the EU
Rendezvous - "Friendship in Business", and was presented in collaboration
with the Delegation of the European Commission to Canada in Ottawa.
Besides
all sorts of wonderful and traditional entertainment, by various ethnic
cultural groups, there were business displays inviting to explore art,
travel, culture, and unusual products from abroad. (Pictures for this
segment by Daniela Rausch)
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| Manfred Petz and the Edelweiss Choir |
The German language based cultures were strongly represented by Manfred Petz and his Edelweiss Choir, the Alpine Club Dancers from Kitchener, and a bit of class and classic by Ursula Ivonoffski.
| Alpine Club Dancers - Kitchener | |
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Other
dance groups represented Cyprus and Croatia, and musical fare from Portugal.
Combined with wines and other beverages from the various countries,
delectable food bits from each region, this evening was easy to digest and
gave all an appetite for more European fare.
| Slovakian pageantry | |
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For a few days the Rotunda in the City Hall of Toronto was home to a show of artwork, also available as post cards, and displays to promote Europe’s Union, showing what can be achieved when the 27 member states work together. At the same time the space was used for the awards ceremony of the EU Essay Competition, where Torontonian students were rewarded for their fine efforts.
Luminato, a feast of over 100 free shows, including many presentations from Europe, is further proof of interest in European culture. The list is long and illustrious.
On a smaller scale the German Chamber of commerce invited to a presentation about the crossing of the Atlantic by Gerd Wengler, President of Park Property Management Inc, and his wife in a one engine Cessna. That took a lot of planning and cooperation between nations and was besides courageous and dangerous also very beautiful.
All these are samples of what can and could and should be the order of the day: A respect and admiration for other cultures and the nurturing of each of them with care and interest.
What a beautiful world it would be if we could only not blow each other up!
