On December 28, 2021, a mini-festival "Traditions and crafts of the inhabitants of the coast of the Curonian Lagoon in the Kaliningrad region" was held on the basis of the visitor center of the Curonian Spit National Park. This is the final event under the project "Common heritage of the Curonian Lagoon: from extraordinary to familiar - Cross heritage" of the Cross-Border Cooperation Programme "Lithuania-Russia 2014-2020". The students of the IKBFU took part in the mini-festival. I. Kant, students of MAOU secondary school No. 56 (Kaliningrad), as well as employees of the IKBFU and the Curonian Spit National Park.
Within the framework of the mini-festival, lectures, a photo exhibition and a preview of a recreated miniature of a kurenas were held - a sailing wooden fishing flat-bottomed boat (such was used in the Curonian Lagoon until the second half of the 20th century).
The project manager from the Curonian Spit National Park, Deputy Director for Development of the Curonian Spit National Park Anastasia Skrebtsova addressed the participants of the mini-festival with a welcoming speech:
“Despite the fact that the Soviet history of the Curonian Spit began in 1946, the full history of this place is much longer and more important. We must, without any political moments, respect the history of this place, the people who once inhabited this territory and inhabit it now. I would like to hope that the knowledge that you receive within the framework of our projects revives in you a sense of responsibility for the world in which we live. They encourage us to preserve our world and pass on to future generations what we enjoy today on a strip of land 98 km long.”
As part of the lecture hall, the participants of the mini-festival got acquainted with the etymology of the toponyms of the Curonian Spit, the history of the linguistic features of the tribes and peoples that once lived on the Curonian Spit, as well as the history, structure and main elements of the production and use of kurenas.
The mini-festival is the final event of an international project that lasted 2.5 years. During this time, two tourist routes were created and tested in practice (“From the Spit to the Mainland”, “From the Museum to the Museum along the River of Time”), a series of trainings was developed for students and employees of the tourism industry, three master classes were held on folk crafts of local culture and much more.
One of the key results of the project was the release of the almanac of the same name in two languages.
Anna Belova, project manager from the IKBFU, director of the Center for Scientific and Technical Information of the IKBFU:
“The almanac is called the same as the project, because in it we reflected the main ideas of the project. The publication contains information about both the Russian part of the Curonian Spit and the Lithuanian part. In addition, an insert is attached - a map-scheme dedicated to fishing in the Curonian Lagoon. The Almanac is available for download in PDF format on the project website and you can get a printed copy from the IKBFU".
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