Presentation of state decorations "Meritorious for Polish Culture Gloria Artis”
06.10.2025
On 6 October 2025, at TeaterTre in Stockholm, following the conclusion of the 44th Poetry Salon, a ceremony was held to present state decorations awarded by the Polish Ministry of Culture and National Heritage. The "Meritorious for Polish Culture Gloria Artis” medals were awarded to Ms. Małgorzata Kwiecińska-Järvenson and Ms. Danuta Rechowicz - long-time co-creators of the Poetry Salon and promoters of Polish literature in Sweden.
On behalf of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, the medals were presented by Consul of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Szmidtke. Ms. Małgorzata Kwiecińska-Järvenson - founder, president, and host of the Association - and Ms. Danuta Rechowicz, who from the very beginning has served as the co-host of the Salon, have for 16 years worked with dedication and passion pro publico bono, contributing to the popularization of Polish poetry in Sweden.
During the ceremony, an excerpt from Ms. Danuta Rechowicz’s words of thanks was read, highlighting the value and significance of poetry in human life:
“The Poetry Salon is a kind of Pantheon of the Word, where the thoughts and feelings of poets resonate through the voices of outstanding actors — both well-known and lesser-known. Words that carry us into their inner world. Czesław Miłosz once said that poetry is painting with words.
We have been able to admire the verbal paintings of our poets - images created with words that have touched our hearts, moved us deeply, and etched themselves into our memory. We come here because we love poetry. Although, as Wisława Szymborska wrote, not everyone likes poetry, one can like it just as one likes chicken soup with noodles or an old scarf.
So let us love poetry - both the classical and the contemporary. Let us delight in it like Sunday chicken soup with noodles, and wrap ourselves in it like a warm, old scarf. This is my heartfelt wish to all lovers of Poetry!”
