Australian Lithuanian Student Assembly 1958

The third Australian Lithuanian Student Assembly was held in Adelaide in December 1958.  It opened on December 27^th by T. Žurauskas.  Present was Pulgis Andriušis, Kristina Česnaitė (Melbourne), V. Martišius (Canberra) and I. Venclovas (Sydney), Secretary Daina Maželytė (Adelaide).

Žurauskas in his address stated that in 1958 in all of Australia and New Zealand over 100 Lithuanians were studying at University level.  In 1957 13 students finished, Sydney 5, Melbourne 5 and Adelaide 3.

Pulgis Andriušis took the stage and gave an interesting reading about ideas and values in life and its place in the English world.   The first day finished with singing of the Lithuanian National Anthem, followed by dinner and fellowship.

The 28^th featured an outing to the beach where several hours of swimming and games was allowed.  In the evening participants gathered at the Giruckus home at Richmond.
The following day, there was an outing to the Art Gallery, Museum and other cultural institutions.  At 3:00pm the delegates regathered at Lithuanian House to continue discussions. That evening the Reisonas home was open.

In all, 19 students from around Australia assembled and 25 from Adelaide. J. Mikužis, dr E.  Petrikaitė, Dr N. Šurnaitė, Dr V. Aleksandravičienė, and Aldona Navakienė spoke.  

December 30 and 31 was left open to visit friends while others organised a trip to the Barossa Valley.

New Year’s Eve was celebrated with a ball organised by the Adelaide Community.

The following year the Student gathering would be held in Canberra.

Weekend school and me

Attending Lithuanian schools on weekends included many things I did not like, mainly dictation and grammar.  I enjoyed the history, the dancing and singing and of course playing with your friends.  On occasion we were asked to write in Lithuanian about a particular topic.  Mine always came back covered in red ink and would use a much simpler language than I could speak. It included alot of repetitive words as that filled up lots of space.   If we were allowed to do this at home, it really was my parents work. 

Homework was usually left to the Saturday morning when there was a rush to get it done and ready for school.  

Below are some examples of essays, unfortunately I don't know who wrote them or what year, but it was before 1980.  They are very loosely translated.

Weekend school and me

I rise at 8:00am and prepare for school.  10:00am the bell rings and we go to class. We say prayers and start work. We sing and dance. At 12:00pm we go to lunch.  The teachers go to eat in another room.  We play a little and then return to class.  Sometimes with Mrs Mazelis and other girls we do some weaving. The other children who do not weave go to watch films about Lithuania. 

 Every Saturday we leave home at 9:00am to go to Lithuanian House.  We gather in the Library where our class is. One week we have history, the other Lithuanian grammar and language.  Every second week we have dancing and weekly signing. The last week of the month, we weave.

This school has 8 year levels, five classes and kindergarten. It is now easier for me to write letters and talk about history. English school it is easy to do projects about Lithuania as I have learnt alot.  I like Lithuanian school very much.

Mixed Voice Double Quartet Choir

Two quartets, one women’s ones men who sang Lithuanian folk songs.  The choir organised a one off performance on February 16th, 1951 in the Adelaide Town Hall.  From this invitation were extended the choir to perform at the ABC, Nuriootpa wine festival.
Women’s quartet consisted of Leonayda Kilikonienė, Janina Maželiene, D (probably Ona) Naudžiuvienė, E. Duchauskas (who later changed with A. Maželienė).  

Men’s choir consisted of Česlovas Zamoiskis, Jonas Abromas and Mečislovas Rudzenskas and ?.  Jonas Zdanavičius was the musical director.  Soloists were sung by Antanina Gučiuvienė, Elena Rūkštelienė and Paulius Rūtenis. 

Proceeds from the evening went in support of the Vasario 16 (February 16th) Lithuanian high school in Germany.

The group later released two folk songs produced in Chicago in 1952.

It was interesting to note that many of those mentioned soon left Adelaide for the USA.  Leonayda and her husband Vytautas Kilikonis moved to Elgin, Illinois, leaving Australia in 1956. Elena Rūkštelienė, her husband and four children moved to San Francisco in June 1955.  Ona Naudžiuvienė   and her husband, Kostas went to live in Los Angeles, leaving in May 1955. Jonas Zdanavičius also left the Commonwealth on the 29th March 1955, but I wasn't able to find out where he migrated to.  

A write up of the event appeared in the Advertiser.

Lithuanian Music and Dancing 
A concert of Lithuanian music and dancing, given in the Adelaide Town Hall last night to celebrate the Commonwealth Jubilee, was well attended.

In the first half of the programme solos were contributed ay Pranas Matiukas (violin) Elena Rukštelė (soprano) and Vivien Tuck (piano).

National dancers, under the leadership of Maria Grėbliunas, gave three groups of dances in costume during the second half, and a double quartet, conducted by Jonas Zdanavičius, sang groups of folk songs.

A collection of Lithuanian handcrafts was also on view.

The Advertiser 17 Feb 1951

Folk art - Weaving

Country women would spin yarn and weave all the material they required for garments and furnishing.  Plain linen was used for sheets, pillow cases, underwear and towels.  More complex patterned weaves were used for towels and table cloths.  Brighter coloured material in several colours were made for women’s clothes, bed spreads, rugs etc. 

Sashes were also woven, given as gifts and commonly worn.  There are distinct regional patterns from the stylised tulips and stars of Lithuanian Minor to the checks and stripes of Dzukija.

Knitwear consisted mainly of gloves and stockings shawls and sweaters.  Knitwear designs were selected from the patterns used in weaving.

The majority of patterns on white linen cloth are based on ancient geometrical ornaments which symbolize the sun and other natural objects. 

A lot of attention was paid to colours. Striped or checked bedspreads do not have many colours, usually two, three or four.  Dominating colour combinations are black, green and red; green, white and red; black and red.

Janina Maželis
Born in Kaunas in 1912.  Janina enrolled in the University of Vytautas the Great to study medicine.  She married Antanas Maželis a law student.  They both graduated in 1938.  The second world war forced them to flee their country with two young daughters.  In 1947 the Maželis family migrated to Australia and settled in Adelaide.  Janina worked as a laboratory assistant at the Queen Elizabeth hospital until her retirement in 1977. 
Weaving began as a hobby, a way of showing allegiance to old Lithuanian traditions.  Fine wool and cotton was used to create stunning woven sashes.  

In the mid 1970’s Janina turned her artistic talents to pottery.  Attending private classes taught by fellow Lithuanian Vilija Dunda, then furthered her interest with Adult Education classes at Thebarton.  From 1978 to 1981 she studied pottery at classes held at Flinders University. 

The Festival of Arts in Adelaide, South Australia, 1962. The Minister for Immigration (Mr Downer) discusses weaving with Janina Maželis, during a demonstration which she gave as part of the migrant Arts and Crafts.