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| Ilinden Ceremonies in Australia the Highest Cultural Achievement - Artists Proud of the Opera House Spectacle
| Tanec Macedonian Folk Song and Dance Ensemble
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(Utrinski Vesnik, 18.08.2003) - For every Macedonian wherever they are, Ilinden is encoded in their consciousness not only as the most important event but the milestone in awakening the national awareness and making the world know that somewhere in the Balkans there is a people with the century-old roots, a right-stripped people who stood up against slavery for human rights, freedom and national independence.
Ilinden 1903, with all of the victims given by the Macedonians, will be the guide for future generations to persevere in what had been started up to reach the second Ilinden and accomplish the century-long dream of the Macedonians - freedom and national statehood.
With these feelings and respect to the 1903 Ilinden, Macedonians in distant Australia joined the pan-Macedonian celebration of 100 Years Ilinden and Macedonian statehood.
In collaboration with the Macedonian Ministry of Culture, the Council of the Macedonian Community and Church Municipality of the Macedonian Orthodox Church organized cultural and artistic programmes in Sidney, Melbourne and Wologong worth of the importance of the jubilee. Our top musicians and singers were engaged for that purpose. They were: Kaliopi, Goce Nikolovski, Risto Samardziev, Suzana Spasovska, Vasil Hadzimanov, Dragan Dautovski Quartet, Tanec Macedonian Folk Ensemble and Zafir Hadzmianov, who hosted the programmes.
Macedonian artists demonstrated their honour to be amongst the chosen ones at the central celebration of Ilinden amongst Macedonian emigrants in the Green Continent - Australia - and to convey the best wishes from their native Macedonia with the top artistic achievement.
Word cannot completely describe what was happening at Dulack Brux Centre in Melbourne, Anmore Theatre in Sidney and Cultural Centre in Wologong, but above all, the ambiance and euphoria demonstrated at the world cultural centre, the Opera House in Sidney on August 3.
High artistic performance demonstrated by the artists with great pride enriched the celebration of Ilinden and Macedonian statehood in the most dignified manner and awoke the national feelings of Macedonians in Australia who could proudly say in their multiethnic environments that they were Macedonians and originated from a country rich in its cultural legitimacy.
The performance of every musician in Australia was experienced by the audience as special artistic elevation, and the performance of Tanec not only that gave a cross section of the folk specifics of Macedonia but thrilled the audience to the maximum with its high artistic accomplishment in presentation of the folk matter.
The observance of Ilinden and Macedonian statehood enriched with a diverse cultural and artistic programme for the Macedonians in Australia was the central event. The experience was retold for days afterwards because that was an event to remember, as they said themselves in contacts with the artists from Macedonia.
Such were the impressions published in the Macedonian-language newspapers Denes, Makedonsko Vreme and Makedonsko-Avstraliski Nedelnik, which described the events in their headlines as “Ilinden in the Heart,” “Cultural Spectacle at Opera House,” and “Cultural Elevation of the Macedonian National Spirit at Opera House.”
It is important that the event at the Opera House was welcomed by the official authorities in Sidney and New South Wales, and at a reception organized by the Minister of Culture, Science, Environment and Energy, Mr. Frank Sartor for the Council of the Macedonian Community and artists from Macedonia. He said that he had watched the rich programme with special excitement and it helped him find out about the many specifics of the Macedonian people.
Following the cultural events during the celebration of 100 Years Ilinden and Macedonian Statehood in Australia, Macedonian artists are proud that they gave their contribution and enriched the observance of the jubilee. They are of opinion that such events are necessary for Macedonians not only in Australia but elsewhere because they do not only offer cultural enjoyment but a spiritual bridge with the native country.
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