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Homepage » About the exhibition » ICEFA Lidice Traveling Exhibition » Great Britain, Stoke on Trent, Potteries museum and Art Gallery - 7. 9. - 4. 11. 2012 - ICEFA 1999 - 2009

Great Britain, Stoke on Trent, Potteries museum and Art Gallery - 7. 9. - 4. 11. 2012 - ICEFA 1999 - 2009

24. 9. 2012

There is a strong bond between Lidice and Stoke on Trent. This city was home to Sir Barnett Stross, a doctor, politician and MP, who initiated the campaign Lidice Shall Live in September 1942. Thank to this campaign, the awareness of the tragic events in Lidice spread widely not only in England, but all over the world. In 1947, on the occasion of laying the foundation stone of a new Lidice, Barnett Stross and the foreman of Staffordshire miners Arthur Baddeley handed in 33 thousand pounds collected from Stoke-on-Trent inhabitants. However, his interest in Lidice did not flag; in 1955 he opened the Park of Peace and Friendship, founded on his initiative, and in 1965 he appealed to the artists all over the world to donate their artworks to the gallery in Lidice.

A commemoration of this historical event took place in connection with the remembrance of the 70th anniversary of the Lidice Shall Live Campaign in the city of Stoke on Trent in the north of England from 6 to 9 September 2012. Invitation from the city of Stoke on Trent was accepted by three former Lidice children – Marie Šupíková, Jana Hanzlíková and Pavel Horešovský –, Mayoress of the village of Lidice Veronika Kellerová, Historian of the Lidice Memorial Radka Šustrová and Head of the Lidice Gallery of the Lidice Memorial Ivona Kasalická.

The first event taking place in commemoration of the 70th anniversary was a ceremonial preview of the exhibitions on loan from the Lidice Memorial – Tragedy of Lidice, Barnett Stross and International Children’s Exhibition of Fine Arts Lidice. The preview took place in the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery in the early evening of 7 September 2012 in the presence of representatives of the city including Lord Mayor of Stoke on Trent and other municipal officials, Mr. and Mrs Gerrard as representatives of the CIC foundation, which organizes British sub-competition of the ICEFA Lidice, and representatives of the village of Lidice – Mayoress of the village, three Lidice survivors, a historian of the Lidice Memorial and the head of the Lidice Gallery. The event also saw Fred Hughes present his new book on Barnett Stross.

The schedule of the visit was tight but well-organized. As it was confirmed again by the responses, by the enormous interest in the past and the present of the village of Lidice and, above all, by the meeting with people who still remember the past events, the significant historical bond between Lidice and Stoke on Trent still lasts.

Ivona Kasalická


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