22nd November 1994
(On board the Mts World Renaissance)
From November 14th to November 23rd, 1994, the Mts WORLD RENAISSANCE is travelling the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea with more than 400 literary passengers from about 30 different nations.
Thanks to the generosity of UNESCO and of various governments and private institutions, but also due to hard work of writers' unions and their representatives in many countries, for the first time in history it has been possible for writers and translators of three European seas, including those from the Baltic Sea, to come together on a ship of dialogue. Regardless of boundaries and different economic and political standards, they were able to discuss common literary issues on neutral grounds. Poetry in various languages was read. Diversities and common convictions came to be discussed in a spirit of mutual respect. In lectures and seminars on board, a multitude of essential topics were touched, such as freedom of speech and translation problems, minority languages and cultural identity.
Visiting Odessa, Constanza, Varna, Istanbul, Izmir and Piraeus, seeing historic sights ranging from the famous stairs of the Eisenstein movie to the marvellous excavations of Ephesus, we all gained a vision of a Europe to come, in which the countries around the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea are included and the Eastern European countries take a vital and equal part.
We are happy to share this vision with the Institution of the «Cultural Cities of Europe» founded in 1985 by the Greek Minister of Culture Melina Markouri. Not only did their representatives take part in the cruise but also, by the generous sponsorship of Thessaloniki, cultural city of Europe in 1997, helped to make this visionary event possible. It is the first time that people of literature and people whose aim it is to assist, spread and promote culture by using practical methods, have met. This is encouraging and a good sign for the future.
Now, at the end of our voyage, we are assembled here on the ship on our way to Delphi, the sacred place in the middle of the ancient world, where peace must rule and the future is determined. We believe that our dialogue must continue in order to give European unification, as well as national cultural identity, a new dimension. We are convinced that the sad political situation we share, ranging from terrible wars to a multitude of minority problems, must be changed to the better. We are aware that the still existing division of Europe in East and West and even more so the ever widening economic gap between North and South of our globe are permanent threats to culture and peace.
Hence, it is now our intent WORLD RENAISSANCE CENTRE situated either in the Aegean or in the Black Sea corresponding to the BALTIC CENTRE FOR WRITERS AND TRANSLATORS, which was created by the Baltic writers after the Baltic cruise in 1992 in Visby, Gotland.
The WORLD RENAISSANCE CENTRE will symbolize and represent the idea of a new Europe. It will be an international independent institution open to all writers and translators, according to the aims of free dialogue, mutual understanding of literature and project WAVES OF THE BLACK SEA. It aims to give a new understanding of literature and literary communication at the beginning of a new millenium. To that end, we declare our faith in the power and significance of culture.
