Sangeet Natak Akademi organized a festival titled ‘Days of Poland in India' on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, under an agreement signed between the Governments of India and Republic of Poland. The festival had ten components out of which seven events were coordinated by the Akademi while three were handled directly by the Embassy of Poland in collaboration with Indian partners.

The festival started with a musical concert, ‘Gala concert — Musical Landscape of Poland', at the Nehru Centre Auditorium of Mumbai on 15 November 2006. It was presented by a group of 15 Polish artists under the leadership of eminent composer and conductor Krzesimir Debski. The Gala Concert also comprised the String Quartet made up of four Polish musicians who were all graduates of the Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw. With a wide ranging repertoire consisting of boroque, classical, romantic and modern works they presented music by composers as varied, as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin, Tchaikovsky as well as pop music and music from films and shows. The same concert was held at three other cities — Kolkata, Chennai, and Delhi.

His Excellency Rafal Wisniewski, Minister in the Government of Republic of Poland was the Chief Guest of the function in Delhi. His Excellency Dr Krzystof Majka, Ambassador of Poland, was present at all the concerts held at the four metros: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.

The second major component of the Polish festival was a seminar on ‘Heritage Protection and Conservation – Sharing Experiences' held at Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), New Delhi, on 27 November 2006. The seminar was inaugurated by Shri S.K. Mishra, Chairman, INTACH who welcomed the delegates. This was followed by papers read by the participants. The pre-lunch session was allocated for guest delegates who offered meaningful insights through their research papers. Prof. Jacek Purchla, Director, International Culture Centre, Krakow presented a paper on ‘Heritage Conservation and Protection: Polish Experiences' while Prof. Andrzej Rottermund's subject was ‘Destruction and Reconstruction of the Old Town and the Royal Castle in Warsaw'. Prof. Iwona Szmelter focused on the Polish accomplishments in the field of conserving and restoring cultural heritage while Prof. Jan Ostrowski spoke on ‘101 Years of Restoration of Wawel Castle'. The pre-lunch session concluded with a paper by Dr W. Brezezinski on ‘Polish Archaeology Recent Developments and Achievements’.

‘Polish Science of the 20th Century – A Special Exhibition' was the third component of the ongoing festival held at the National Science Centre, New Delhi, between 28 November to 12 December 2006. The exhibition was inaugurated by the Ambassador
of Poland in India, H.E. Dr Krzystof Majka, on 28 November 2006 and was followed by a lecture on popular science by Prof. Andrzej B. Legocki, President, Polish Academy of Sciences. Dr Krishan Lal, Former Director, National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi, was
the Guest of Honour on the occasion.

The exhibition presented accomplishments of Poland in this field by showcasing forty eight profiles of Polish Scientists and their achievements. The discoveries made by them in disciplines such as mathematics, physics, astronomy, ethnography, archaeology, biology and linguistics were grouped categorywise. The selection was representative of developments in Polish science in the 20th Century.

Continuing the musical performances the western classical music concerts titled ‘Classical Maestri' — presented at Kolkata on 3 December, Pune on 5 December and Delhi on 7 December — were yet another high point of the Polish Festival. The Kolkata
concert was organized in collaboration with Calcutta School of Music and featured a piano recital by the noted pianist Prof. Jerzy Sterczynski. Prof. Jerzy Sterczynski is Professor of piano and Dean of the Piano, Organ and Harpsichord Department of the
Fredric Chopin Academy of Music, Wasaw. He presented the chamber version of the Piano, Concerto no. 2 in f. minor op. 21. This was followed by a concert at Pune on 5 December by the Classical Quintet ‘Concerto Avenna' organized in collaboration with the

Poona music society. The Concerto Avenna soloists consisting of graduates from Fredric Chopin Academy, Wasaw, formed an orchestra in 1985. They specialize in Baroque music preserving its typical dynamics, sounds and interpretation. Their repertoire includes pieces specially composed for them by Polish composers. The group's artistic director is Andrew Mysinski.

Another component was the Polish film festival held in collaboration with Federation of Film societies of India (FFSI) at Chennai (18-22 December 2006) Bangalore (28-30 December 2006), Guwahati (29 December to 2 Jauary 2007), Delhi (8-12 January
2007), and Pune (15-19 January 2007). The films screened were masterpieces directed by great Polish film-makers like Juliusz Machulski, Sylwaster Checinski, Marek Piwowski, and Janusz Zaorski. The five films — Vinci, Big Shar, Foul Play, Soccer Poker,
and Hit the Bank — were screened at all the five venues mentioned above.