A tempting invitation in my inbox.  An evening of multicultural music, poetry and food at the next Swietlica Open Day on Monday 3 October.  It’s the winning combination that draws crowds to the friendly gathering at Fort Community Wing and so I’m very sorry to miss this event but other members of Leith Open Space will be able to join in.

Joining-in is what the evening is about. This time the programme links the work of Polish artists and musicians with Scotland and other European countries.  Swietlica will be marking the centenary of Polish poet, Czeslaw Milosz with  a performance of his work by Scottish poet Ken Cockburn who will also explain his recent project in partnership with the Polish Consulate in Edinburgh.

There will be a photographic exhibition on the theme of migration including work by Radek Slomnicki. Traditional folk music of Eastern Europe offers another chance for the audience to join in with the singing duo TOCZKA introducing music from Ukraine, Russia and Georgia. (The picture, by the way, shows the Ukrainian choir Chrząszcz at the Welcome Home Refugee Night in June). And as always food is a central part of the evening. Once again World Kitchen cooks are invited to contribute dishes to the spread.

If I hadn’t already got my tickets booked to Spain I would certainly be there too but I will raise a glass at 6.00pm (7pm Madrid time) over some tapas maybe when the doors open at Fort Community Wing.  Cheers.

For more information email Dominika.Kasolik@swietlica.org.uk and take a look at Swietlica Facebook page

This is the third multicultural Open Stage night organised by members of Swietlica and they decided to mark Refugee Week by promoting the work of as many different groups as possible.  The result is an extraordinary programme including Nepalese dancers, Ukrainian singers, Tibetan performers, Indian sitar musicians and the headline band Ghanamma Trio as well as stalls of African crafts, Polish arts and multicultural food.

We were delighted to be asked to contribute names to the mailing list.  During the last five years we have met so many inspiring people working in our part of town – achieving fantastic results with little or no money. Not least Swietlica (and their Welcome Home project). Their aims are to celebrate diversity and spread understanding between communities and (with a constant political undercurrent of concern about immigration confusing the issue of asylum) the 60th anniversary of Refugee Week could hardly be a more important time to spread understanding. With celebration.

As Iain Christie put it in an email: “We’re trying to highlight and celebrate the diversity of Edinburgh through food music, dance, performance, poetry and music, in a alcohol and drugs free environment.”

Click on the Refugee Week website and you find most Scottish activities happen in Glasgow. But there are heartwarming events in Edinburgh too – at The Welcoming, Melting Pot and the African support group Karibu – and though Welcome Home is not on the website list it is well promoted on their Facebook page and the Migrants Rights website

And we are very pleased to say that World Kitchen in Leith will be making a contribution towards what sounds like a spectacular spread of food displaying the talents of many great local cooks and cafes.

Welcome Home is from 5.30 to 9.30 on Monday 20th June at Fort Community Wing, North Fort Street, EH6 4HF, Edinburgh.  The event is free but donations will be welcome.

Sofia steals the show at the first Open Stage night in November 2010.

The pictures say it all.  There were many magical moments at the first Welcome Home open stage night – Sofia’s grin, Maria’s love letters, Gordon’s poetry, Lotus Leaf’s jazz – and the second event promises many more.  Come to the Fort Community Wing on Monday 21st February for a whole-hearted celebration of Leith’s cultural diversity.  And please bring a plate of food that reminds you of home.

“It sounds like it will be an interesting night”, emails Kasia Raszewska, one of the Welcome Home organisers.  That sounds like an understatement.  The night’s event  includes a poet from Iraq, musicians from Tibet, Philippines and Africa along with African, Polish and Tibetan stalls selling arts and crafts.

Gordon reads poetry, Maria reads love letters at the first Welcome Home open stage night in November 2010 (photographs by Pawel Drozd)

This time there is perhaps an even greater emphasis on music. The headline band of the night is Lorraine McCauley and The Borderlands.  The DJ is DJ Waapa and Mad Caravan.  Kasia also tells us that the African stall is by Bongayi Kutywayo Patty of Zimbabwe from AB African Collections. The Himalayan stall is by Reke Rose Gawa  from the Himalaya Cafe and Anna Sznajder from Swietlica has made the crafts for the Polish ethnographic crafts. “We will also have a guest performance from Wilson Warmheart (Scotland),” says Kasia, ” He is one of the people behind Himalaya Gatherings, a huge inspiration for Welcome Home”.

And don’t forget the food. As always food is a central part of the celebration and in the heat of the kitchen at the Fort, the team of volunteers will be writing lists and labels for different foods representing different cultures (we’re told that Cathy McNaughton from Multi-Cultural Family Base is planning to bring cucumber sandwiches so no prizes for guessing where Cathy is from).

Three cheers for Welcome Home – and hooray  for Swietlica for creating such an imaginative way of bringing people together. ‘Multicultural’ has become a loaded word but Welcome Home puts the fun back into cultural diversity with nothing more intoxicating than music, poetry, art, food and soft drink. All completely free of charge.  Oh, and yes, guests are invited to bring candles or fairy lights to add a bit of sparkle.

Welcome Home Open Stage Night is from 6pm – 9pm at Fort Community Wing, North Fort Street, EH6 4HF. FREE [lots more pictures on their Facebook page]

Lotus Leaf: photograph by Maria Kozaczek

We arrived just as Santa was leaving so we didn’t even have time to snap what might have been  a tell-tale picture of his boots as he disappeared out the door. Luckily Pawel Drozd was there with his camera to capture the atmosphere of another great Swietlica Christmas party – and two of the star performers.

It seems no time since we were at the last Swietlica Christmas party.  This year instead of the traditional Polish celebration on Christmas Eve – with 12 courses of food – the party coincided with the last Monday drop in club of 2009 at Fort Community Wing but as always there were plenty of good things to eat. And even if it wasn’t Wigilia (the Polish Christmas Eve) there was still the ritual of oplatek, the breaking and sharing of wafers of unleavened bread which gets everyone in the room talking to one another.

As Kasia Raszewska promised in the invitation, the evening was full of singing, some dancing and a chance to catch up with friends.

Thanks to Pawel for the pictures, to  Swietlica for inviting us to the party. And to Santa – or should that be St Nicholas? –  for the presents. (Rumour has it that he was an undercover cop but we don’t have a picture of the boots to prove it).

Look forward to seeing you there.

Grassroots, the Zimbabwean band, brings the festival spirit to Redbraes

While we are looking forward to an eventful new year we couldn’t resist taking a look back. During 2008 we travelled far and wide, visiting parts of Africa, China, India, Pakistan and Poland. All without moving out of Leith and North Edinburgh. To celebrate the most vibrant and exciting part of the capital city here is our world tour in pictures, with thanks to the many welcoming communities of Leith.

Breaking bread and making new friends with Swietlica in Craighall Centre, Ferry Road. Our first story of the year reported on an unforgettable Christmas celebration, Polish style.

Kimho Ip (holding the umbrella) brought Chinese music, dance and song to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh but we had to make do with the worst of Scottish weather on midsummer night. For all that, Dialogues of Wind and Bamboo was a magical experience.

We had a lot of fun reporting on the fantastic development of Redbraes Community Garden and got to some good parties in the process! Here’s Grassroots at the summer open day in August.

Behind the scenes, members of Leith Open Space joined volunteers helping to assembling 3,000 figures in the festival exhibition Return of the Soul symbolising the exodus of 750,000 Palestinian men, women and children displaced by the creation of Israel 60 years ago.

Scottish Asian poets brought a unique flavour of the Indo-Pak subcontinent to McDonald Road Library. Over 130 people enjoyed readings of poetry in Gujarati, English, Punjabi and Urdu. This was Edinburgh’s 17th Mushaira but the tradition goes back hundreds of years.

Ok, we didn’t really get to a market in Tanzania  but the next best thing was to be invited to the launch of the Tanzania Edinburgh Community Association (TzECA) marking the 47th Independence Anniversary of Tanzania. African food, music and hospitality overcame a cold December night. Thanks to Yvonne Baginsky(of Shirati Hospital Energy Project) for the picture.  And Alice Musamba for great food at the event in Newhaven.

Back to Edinburgh, ending the year with a series of traditional Polish gatherings. And (by the way) another wonderful Christmas Eve meal. Here children dress up for Andrzejki, at the Swietlica celebration of St Andrews night in Fort Community Centre.

Now for 2009!