He has been exploring and promoting Lemko culture for years. He dances, sings, plays the accordion... and also studies ICT at our Faculty. Sławomir Starzyński – a propagator of Lemko culture from the "Kyczera" Song and Dance Ensemble – is the guest of the #JestemzPWr #JestemzWIT series.

Our guest studies ICT at our Faculty because, as he says, he wants to gain new knowledge, experience and skills. Our Faculty was also recommended to him by his friends. A few months before Sławomir began his university adventure, he took, as one of only two people in Poland, the Lemko language at his Matura exam. 

– It was natural for me because we speak this language at home and I read Lemko literature in my free time. I visit my home Lemko region once a year and I feel connected to this land – says our new student. 

According to the last census, over 13.5 thousand people identify as Lemkos, of which as many as 40% live in Lower Silesia. Sławomir observes that his Lemko community is very active. We should mention here the Song and Dance Ensemble Song and Dance Ensemble „Kyczera"”, which was founded by Jerzy Starzyński, who is the father of our student and also a historian involved in restoring the Lemko heritage. Together with the „Kyczera" ensemble, Sławomir explores and promotes the Lemko culture.

– I dance, sing and play the accordion in the ensemble. I have been learning to play for over 10 years, and currently I am in the second-level music school – says our Lemko student.

Kyczera is the name of a mountain in the Lemko region, which is a symbol of the region and often appears in local poetry. It also became the inspiration for the name of the Świat pod Kyczerą (The Kyczera World) festival, organized by the ensemble. The festival was declared the best festival in 2022.

– From what my dad told me, the beginnings of the ensemble were difficult. Ethnic minorities were not much welcome shortly after the transformation in Poland in 1989. We Lemkos consider ourselves our own, separate nation – says Sławomir Starzyński.

Over time, however, the „Kyczera" became a permanent part of the cultural landscape of Legnica, and nowadays folklore has also become quite fashionable. The group is invited to many places in Poland and around the world to teach traditional Lemko songs and dances. Many of them have survived only because they were scrupulously passed from generation to generation.

Our student had the opportunity to perform with the Kyczera group in Portugal, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. At the festival in Portugal, he played a great concert together with bands from all over the world, where all groups performed a song written especially to combine musical motifs from different cultures. Throughout its history, the group has also been, among others, in Peru, Mexico, and China.

– One of my favourite memories is a spontaneous performance. During the concert, our female dancers had to quickly change their clothes. The men decided to go out and sing on stage to pass the time. It turned out that this piece received the biggest applause in the concert – sums up the student from our Faculty.