Results of research

After our Kickoff meeting in Germany the german students gathered material about the sorbs. During a meeting all of them presented their materials which they have found. Concerning the minority of the sorbs a lot of literature, articles and videos exist.One student reported on her telephone call with the cultural office of Bautzen (town in Lusatia). They sent her a lot of material about the sorbs.
Finally we divided the material into four groups :
1. Geography, living space, history of the sorbs2. Tradition: folklorism, art, famous Sorbian persons3. Today’s situation: economic situation, political situation4. What is Sorbian identity? What do the sorbians themselves would like to tell the majority society?
Each student chose a theme which he/she wants to work about.Concerning the form of the exhibition we decided to write short texts and to use much figures, schedules and maps.Because we want to meet Sorbian people and ask them personally what they think about their present situation especially concerning the expansion of the quarries of lignite in their living space we wanted to visit them.
After a while we met again and each student presented her/his work. We tried to keep in mind the restricted space in an exhibition. Concerning the abundance of the gathered material it was a difficult job to reduce this material for a poster which could be part of an exhibition.
Finally in the beginning of march we visited the sorbs in their living space. We spent three nights in Bautzen (near Dresden). There we had a guided tour which ended in a sorbian café where we discussed with the landlady over coffee and cake.
During the following days we met some sorbs who informed us about their life in Lusatia.
Our visit in the quarries of lignite was very impressive. The quarries of lignite are a threat for Sorbian villages because they have to be destroyed for the quarries.
Our next step will be researching material about the sinti, the second minority we want to deal with.
Andrea