DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL, WITH ‘POIGNANCY AND PRIDE’, ACCEPTS POLAND’S GIFT TO UN –- SCULPTURE OF PIANIST ARTUR RUBINSTEIN

DEPUTY SECRETARY-GENERAL, WITH ‘POIGNANCY AND PRIDE’, ACCEPTS POLAND’S

GIFT TO UN –- SCULPTURE OF PIANIST ARTUR RUBINSTEIN

Following are the remarks of Deputy Secretary-General Louise Fréchette upon receiving Poland’s gift to the United Nationsin New York, on 25 September:

Good evening.  It is with a particular sense of poignancy and pride that I accept, on behalf of the United Nations, this gift from the Government and people of Poland.

With this sculpture, Poland has immortalized a moment that goes to the very heart of our common history:  the day the United Nations was born, when one of Poland’s most gifted sons let his music speak for his country.

The fact that Artur Rubinstein used his talent to represent Poland among the other founding Members of our Organization speaks volumes for your country’s contribution to the rest of the world.

It is a contribution of art and culture, of innovative thinking, of values central to our common humanity, of leadership and solidarity.

Since that day in San Francisco almost 60 years ago, Poland has played a committed and constructive role in the United Nations -– as a contributor to United Nations peace operations; as a leading voice for emerging democracies and economies in transition; as a promoter of dialogue and understanding among the peoples of the world.

You give us this remembrance of our shared past at a time when the present is troubling, and the future uncertain.

It is fitting that the form of Artur Rubinstein and his piano will be placed here, by the Delegates’ Entrance of the United Nations, to greet representatives of every nation as they arrive every day to discuss the challenges of our time.

As we confront those challenges, we will be able to draw inspiration from the music we can imagine still being played by this maestro among men.

      Dziekuje.

Thank you very much.

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