The international Sit Down initiative with the premiere of the musical Peace Child in Ljubljana

“Yesterday, when we met at Brdo pri Kranju and I looked into your eyes, I saw the world as it should be. For ten days you lived, created and dreamt together. You were not only preparing a musical; you were building a home without walls, you were building the world house that Martin Luther King dreamt of. You turned diversity into harmony, fear into courage and silence into a message the world needs to hear today,” said the Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, mag. Tanja Fajon, in her address at the premiere.

Slovenia thus became the first venue to host this musical on the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the founding of the United Nations. In her address before the musical, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Tanja Fajon stressed that she was proud that Slovenia, as a member of the UN Security Council, could carry the voices of young people into the international community. In her words, it is precisely young people who prove that coexistence between different cultures, nationalities, ideologies and faiths is possible, and that peace is not to be taken for granted but must be built step by step. She added that the event was more than a concert: “It is an expression of cultural diplomacy which, with its soft power, complements political efforts.” She particularly welcomed the presence of the Palestinian Foreign Minister, Dr Agabekian Shahin, and the participation of the Palestinian choir Amwaj from Bethlehem and Hebron, which, together with singers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and musicians from Ukraine, was supported by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

The Slovenian premiere at Križanke was preceded by a business forum, which emphasised that culture and the economy are inseparably intertwined and together create a powerful diplomatic tool. On the first panel, whose participants included mag. Nataša Kos, Head of the Cultural and Science Diplomacy Department at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the speakers highlighted the strategic role of culture in diplomacy, the economy and national development. Culture was recognised as a bridge between nations and generations, a foundation for coexistence and an inspiration for young people to become builders of peace and the future.

The Sit Down project will conclude its journey in Vienna, where the Austrian premiere of the musical will be performed at the Vienna Konzerthaus on 23 October, on the eve of United Nations Day.

The international initiative SIT DOWN – Peace Child, held under the honorary patronage of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, brings together more than 200 artists from 19 countries around the world. At its heart is the musical Peace Child, which gives young people a voice to express, through art, their vision of a peaceful and sustainable world. The project was made possible by numerous Slovenian and international partners: Peace Child International, with its founders David Gordon, David Woollcombe and Rosey Simonds, which has been empowering young people around the world for four decades; the Slovenian Youth Orchestra under the artistic direction of Živa Ploj Peršuh, which brought together musicians of different nations; the Ljubljana Festival and its director Darko Brlek, who enabled the young people to perform under the auspices of the renowned festival; and SPIRIT Slovenija and the Ministry of the Economy, Tourism and Sport, which recognised the importance of linking culture and the economy for a shared future.