Slovenia celebrates Tagore's birth anniversary

Ljubljana: The celebration of Rabindra Jayanti has begun in Slovenia, a Central European nation of just two million people, with a series of concerts by Belgian violin maestro and symphony conductor Hans Vermeersch in the cities of Goriska Brda, Ljubljana, Slovenj Gradec and Maribor from May 6 to 9.

Vermeersch, a descendant of Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens and married to an Indian, will conduct a three-hour seminar on the music of the Nobel laureate at the conservatory of Ljubljana on Thursday. The conservatory will also put on display prints of paintings by Rabindranath, and his nephews Gaganendranath and Abanindranath Tagore. 

More than 20 works of the bard have been translated into Slovenian language since he received the Nobel Prize in 1913. Many are still in print. The Writers' Association of Slovenia will pay tribute to Tagore in a special event at the City Library here on Thursday. The formation of a Tagore Society of Slovenia may also be announced on the occasion.

Rabindranath Tagore was born on May 7, 1861.

On May 8, Vermeersch will participate in the World War II Victory Day commemoration in Slovenj Gradec city, which hosts a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, by playing melodies of Indian Army regiments that fought in World War II and those that inspired Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian freedom movement.

On May 9, the mayor of Maribor will pay tributes to the composer of India's national anthem at his bust. A concert of Tagore's music will be presented by Vermeersch.

The Painters Association of Slovenia will display prints of paintings by Rabindranath and his contemporaries at their gallery in Ljubljana from May 11 to 15.

The celebrations of the 154th birth anniversary of Tagore in Slovenia have been supported by the Slovenian Society for International Development, the municipalities of Ljubljana, Maribor, Slovenj Gradec and Goriska Brda, the House of Culture in Smartno, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.