Europe awards the work of value-creating
Celebrating with the local community, Mrs. Paraschiva Kovács could take up her Grand Prix of the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/ Europa Nostra Awards 2012 at her hometown, Satu Mare. The festival of handing over the prize was organized at the culture house of Satu Mare, the room for the ceremony being totally filled with invited and further interested participants. The event was honored by the kind presence of the boardmember of Europa Nostra, Mr. Piet Jaspaert and by members and representatives of the public sphere, Mr. Lajos Dávid, the mayor of Satu Mare, the Mayor’s Office of Satu Mare, Mr. Csaba Borboly, the president of Harghita County Council, which institution was the organizer of the event, Mr. Hunor Kelemen, president of DAHR (Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania), Mr. Gábor Szarka, consul of the Consulate-General of Hungary in Miercurea Ciuc, Mr. Levente Bunta, the mayor of Odorheiu Secuiesc and last but not least Mr. István Antal, parliamentary representative. Besides the gratitude and welcome speeches held by the previously mentioned personalities, the laudation of Mrs. Paraschiva Kovács’ ambitious and exemplary work was held by Mr. Ferenc Pozsony, academic and professor.
“Peace to those who enter, blessing to those who exit” – with this quotation being one of the famous inscriptions carved on the Sekler wooden gates was the ceremony opened by the mayor of Satu Mare, Mr. Lajos Dávid. This spiritual charge of Sekler gates motivated Mrs. Paraschiva Kovács to work toward preserving these traditional gates and raising local people’s awareness by transmitting the cultural values these gates dispose of to people and next generations. The mayor also noted that it is a great pleasure that their community can be proud of a country house also thanked for Mrs. Paraschiva Kovács for her perseverance of realizing her dreams.
Mr. Hunor Kelemen called the laureate’s work exemplary, emphasizing that owned to her, Europe enters and is welcomed through our Sekler gates. He added that the European level recognition of her activity well suggests Sekler people’s peculiar feature of joining their forces for realizing outstanding objectives for the benefit of the community.
Mr. Csaba Borboly, president of Harghita County Council highlighted that it is always easy to complain because of existing difficulties, but results can be reached solely through devoted work and the act of protesting is not sufficient. ‘Besides voicing out the democratic public opinion, everyone has to work toward solving the problems. The here celebrated Mrs. Kovács’ lifework shows us the direction for the much harder but the efficient way of realizing the set objectives, an act that was recognized and awarded by Europe also. All the more since Europe and the European Union expresses its recognition by awarding the satisfactory work of showing up our values and not the act of politically generating conflicts’. The president of the county council thanked also all the people’s work involved in carrying out Mrs. Kovács prize-winner project and applying her heritage preserving activity within the Europa Nostra Award. Mr. Csaba Borboly also mentioned that owned to the ambitious and perseverant work of Mrs. Kovács as teacher and ethnographer and to the fact that Harghita County Council considered essential to support her and her work, Seklerland is now marked on the cultural map of Europe. Finally he also thanked all the participants for joining the event and celebrating together with Mrs. Paraschiva Kovács.
Mr. Levente Bunta, partly being a member of the community of Satu Mare welcomed with great heart Mrs. Kovács highlighting that he is proud of her work as a school teacher and ethnographic collector that she has done so perseverantly for almost a half of decade.
According to Mr. Ferenc Pozsony ‘over the last few decades Mrs. Kovács organized several scientific and cultural events and conferences aimed at raising people’s awareness on the fact that certain elements of the Sekler culture do not belong merely to the Transilvanian region but are the integrant part of the European cultural heritage too. Her name and life is now connected to the Sekler wooden gates, and also to her special desire to rescue and transmit the material and spiritual folk culture of Sekler people to next generations – as Mr. Ferenc Pozsony formulated in his laudatory speech.
Mr. Piet Jaspaert in his speech shared some relevant information about the Europa Nostra. As he claimed Europa Nostra is an umbrella organizations bringing together and representing 400 member and associate organizations and 1500 private persons with a combined membership of at least 5 million citizens from all over Europe. Beinning with 1978 it awards the perseverance and reconstruction of cultural monuments, and starting from 2002 the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage/ Europa Nostra Award is the official recognition of the European Union regarding outstanding realizations in the field of cultural heritage. In 2012 from 38 countries 226 projects were submitted, out of which 28 projects were selected by a jury composed of professional and independent experts, Mrs. Paraschiva Kovács being also among the six ‘Grand Prix’ winners – as Mr. Piet Jaspaert told. As he further claimed it was a great honor and pleasure for him to come to Seklerland, offering him the possibility to see our cultural heritage, the Sekler gates, Mrs. Kovács in her own environment and among her friends at her hometown. For him she is the Queen of Satu Mare, as Mr. Piet Jaspaert, the representant of Europa Nostra claimed with great honor.
The Grand Prix was handed over to Mrs. Kovács in June, last year, in Lisbon where she was accompanied by Mr. Csaba Borboly, president of Harghita County Council. Sunday, on 10th of March 2013 she could take up her prestigious prize at her hometown too, being handed over by Mr. Piet Jaspaert and Mr. Csaba Borboly.
Mrs. Paraschiva Kovács thanked all the kind and respectful words addressed to her during the ceremony. As she said, it is the third time the award she received is celebrated, firstly in Lisbon, then when she came home, the local community celebrated her success and finally now, when whole Seklerland is celebrating. She thanked Mr. Csaba Borboly and the help of the County Council evoking the first time when she first met him and talked about Sekler gates and the value they are representing. At that occassion she expressed her hope to the president that her students will take further and continue her value-preserving work and endeavour for rescuing Sekler gates and transmitting their cultural value.
Besides the highly appreciating speeches that were said at the ceremony, an outstanding cultural show was also shown to the audience and invited participants performed by the Mixed Choir of Satu Mare, the Flute Choir of Satu Mare and the
‘Rozetta’ Folk Dance Ensemble, as well as the Children’s Philharmonia of Vlăhița. The event was closed with the reception organized in the art gallery of the culture house, and the guests were offered to visit and see the country house as well.
Satu Mare, 10th of March 2013
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