From enjoying Dobos cakes and Turkish coffee to watching Bulgarian dances and Austrian puppets, visitors who attended Pitt’s Eastern European Festival this weekend had the opportunity to celebrate Eastern European cultures that have a rich history in Pittsburgh.
The Eastern European Festival took place last Sunday in the Common Room of the Learning Cathedral. The event celebrated the diverse cultures and languages of Eastern Europe through traditional cuisine, music, dance, poetry and art.
As part of the festival program, students from Pitt’s Austrian Puppet Course, taught by Assistant Professor Orin James, presented a puppet show titled “The Magic Flower.” After the puppet show, the students of Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and the Center for less taught languages recited poems in Greek, Hungarian, Russian, Slovak and other Eastern European languages as part of the Poetry in Eastern Europe program. The festival ended with a Bulgarian dance performance presented by students from Bulgarian-Macedonian National Educational and Cultural Center.
Tables with student organizations, clubs, food vendors, and local Eastern European diaspora organizations also circled the common room, providing attendees with a range of cultural learning opportunities . Nationality Halls representing different Eastern European countries were open during the festival, with their committees present to help guide visitors through the halls and share information about their history.
Matt Miloszar, vice president of Pitt’s Graduate Organization for the Study of Europe and Central Asiasaid he enjoyed the festival’s mix of entertainment and education.
“It’s academic in the sense that Pitt offers language and culture courses in all of these countries and an opportunity to study them in greater depth, while bringing the entire Pittsburgh community together to celebrate these cultures,” Miloszar said.
Pittsburgh has a rich history of Eastern European emigration to the city. Abagail Kraus, a biology and chemistry major with a minor in Slovak studies and president of Pitt’s Slovak Club, said the festival provides a great opportunity to help Pitt students connect with their Czechoslovak heritage.
“There is a huge population in Pittsburgh of people who are either Czech and Slovak or of Slovak or Czech descent, so we want to make sure we give space for students to explore that more,” Kraus said. “At this festival we have the opportunity to reach other students more than we normally would. »
Kraus said many students at Pitt and Pittsburgh have lost touch with their Eastern European cultures due to social forces of assimilation and Americanization. In light of this, Kraus said she found helping students become interested in their heritage at the festival to be a rewarding experience.
“They (students) know they are Slovak, but they don’t know how to explore that, so we offer the opportunity for people to help them expand their knowledge,” Kraus said. “It’s amazing because you see people get so excited about something. They feel like they are finding a part of themselves again.
Zita Tóth-Shawgothe engagement coordinator for Pitt’s Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies and the University Center for International Studies (UCIS) also said that stimulating students’ enthusiasm for their culture and heritage is an important part of the festival, along with intercultural understanding.
“On a broader level, I hope the festival will spark curiosity among them (Pitt students),” Tóth-Shawgo said. “Experiencing different cultures, being aware of the differences and similarities between our cultures, all of this is linked to a better mutual understanding, which ultimately benefits all of us as a community, whether local or global. »
Nerina Sivonjic, the treasurer of the Yugoslav Nationality Hall, taught people about his culture while serving a type of coffee made in the Balkans. Although Sivonjic said some people recognize the coffee by different names – Turkish or Bosnian – the joy of being able to share some of his Bosnian heritage with visitors meant the most to him.
“It’s really exciting to see people being curious and asking questions – it makes me really proud,” Sivonjic said. “It makes me feel seen, and I think it lets people see how many different cultures we have in Pittsburgh and makes visible some communities that aren’t as well known, but still make up a lot of the landscape.”
For Diana Lysova, a second-year Asian studies student and president of the Russian Culture and Language Club, cultural visibility and representation are invaluable.
Through her club, Lysova aims to give a full picture of Russian culture to Pitt students and broaden conversations about Russia beyond its government.
“I think it’s always very important for people to feel that their culture is important, honorable and valuable, especially when they live abroad,” Lysova said. “Having a space where you are the person in the middle, like people are coming to look at you and hear what you have to say, it makes you feel important.”
Lysova and club events coordinator Alisa Stolyar wore the traditional Russian women’s headdress called Kokoshnik and the traditional Sarafan getting dressed at the club table.
Lysova said seeing people interact with Eastern European culture makes her proud of her cultural identity.
“It makes you feel like your culture isn’t just a minor part of you. It’s something like a pillar that constitutes who you ultimately are,” Lysova said.
