Radio România Internațional

Tag: museum

  • Grandparents acting as museum guides

    Grandparents acting as museum guides

    The one-week “ski holiday”, as it is usually known, is scheduled in Romania in February. It is part of the secondary-school timetable. Also, its timeframe is subject to change, according to decisions taken by local municipalities.

    In Oradea, in the northwest, the Oradea Cris Rivers Museum – Museum Compound jointly with Bihor County Council and the Municipality of Oradea staged an activity themed “ With grandparents at the museum. Guides for one day “. During the February 18th and 23rd school holiday, grandparents and their grandchildren are invited to get acquainted with the history of the town. Accordingly, grandparents will have the opportunity to act as guides, for the grandchildren.

    Cristina Liana Pușcaș holds a Doctor’s degree in history. She is a museographer with the Oradea Town Museum, a section of the Oradea Cris Rivers Museum. Dr Puscas told us more about the project.

    “Practically, it is the 2nd edition of this program which we initially thought out in 2023. The following year, in 2024, we could not stage it since the museum underwent a thoroughgoing refurbishment process. We thought out the project to be implemented throughout the ski holiday, bearing in mind not all the children could afford going on such a trip, so quite a few of them stayed at home, in their hometowns, in Oradea, mostly, with their grandparents, who could afford going out for the day, in a bid to get acquainted with the history of the town, at once sharing their own life experience with their grandchildren.

    Last year, through this large-scale project of refurbishing the Town Museum section, we arranged a couple of museum areas, new exhibitions, quite a few of them dedicated to that specific period of communism, an era those grandparents used to live in, so their own life experience can be transposed into stories, in each of the dedicated rooms. “

    Dr Puscas told us more about the project.

    “They can, for instance, speak to the children about the significance of the fish placed on top of the TV set, about what those bottles of milk meant, how they were queuing up, the soda bottle, the petrol lamp reminding everyone of the fact that at that time, in the evening, they had power outages for a couple of hours, about the dial telephone.

    As part of the exhibition themed “Education in Oradea in the 20th century” we have a classroom of that time, with the school uniforms, with the pioneer’s uniform, we have the ink glass, the letter box, the abacuses, so much so that the stories and the life experience of those grandparents can be explained much easier. Another exhibition children may find extremely attractive is the one themed “The Discotheque of the 70s and the 80s”, since grandparents lived at that time, so they can spin the yarn of what life meant, at that time, for them, when they were young. “

    The museum staff also prepared additional info for the halls in the museum that were a little bit more difficult to explain by the grandparents turned guides, our interlocutor also said.

    “It goes without saying they cannot possible have such comprehensive notions, For instance, for World War One, we have prepared a brief piece of info on what the Romanian Army’s entering Oradea in 1919 actually meant, to be more specific, who Traian Mosoiu was, the hero who contributed to the liberation of the town. And speaking about the day-to-day life, in the communist times, we also have a flyer with info and images that can, in effect, trigger grandparents’ memories of what the communist times meant. “

    We asked Cristina Liana Pușcaș what the successful points were, of the 2023 edition of the project:

    “Taking a quick look at the photos of two years ago, I realized grandparents really came, with their grandchildren, and they were having a closer look at those objects. And from the photos, you could see them explaining how the telephone worked, for instance, with a dial, how a radio worked, how a turntable worked, for instance, what the vinyl was good for and from those photographs I even recalled grandparents truly got involved in the description of quite a few of those objects.

    As we speak, exhibitions are pretty well stocked with such objects, so grandparents will definitely have much more pieces of info at their fingertips, enabling them to give much more detailed explanations to their grandchildren. “

    The entrance fee for one ticket as part of this museum program is 10 lei per person, that is 2 Euros, for the master exhibitions of the Oradea Town Museum Section. The Oradea Museum Town Cultural Complex, based in the Oradea Fortress makes temporary and permanent exhibitions available for visitors.

    Here are some of the themes of the museum’s permanent exhibitions: ”Churches in the palace – archaeological research in the Princely Palace”. “The History of Bread” The History of Oradea Photography”, “The Convenience Store”, “Childhood in the Golden Age. The Resistance and repression in Bihor Memorial”. Then there is the “Moving Monuments Exhibition. Depersonalisation”, of fine artist Cătălin Bădărău. There are also The Oradea Greek-Catholic Bishopric Exhibition – Pages of History, the Exhibition of the Oradea Reformed Church and the Oradea Roman-Catholic Bishopric Exhibition.

  • January 31, 2025 UPDATE

    January 31, 2025 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT The Romanian government has completed all the preliminary procedures before passing the draft 2025 state budget law on Saturday. According to PM Marcel Ciolacu, the news that the budget bill has been finalised has triggered a decrease in the interest rates at which the country borrows money in foreign markets. He said that, after the budget is endorsed in Parliament, other positive effects will follow. Ciolacu mentioned that exports will increase this year by over 3% as a result of Romania’s full Schengen accession, and emphasised that the warm weather in January allowed construction works to progress significantly, especially as regards the highway infrastructure. As a result, the budget earmarked to transportation has been increased by almost 20% compared to last year. A priority for this year is attracting foreign investments, Ciolacu added. In this respect, he announced that a foreign holding has announced plans to relocate a factory from Bulgaria to Romania. Moreover, the PM said that there are clear signals that the strategic partnership with the US is entering a new economic dimension and that next week he will have talks with the heads of major American investment funds.

     

    MOLDOVA Romania has stood by the R of Moldova and will continue to do so, in order to increase its energy resilience and support it in its EU accession efforts, the Romanian foreign minister Emil Hurezeanu promised in Chişinău on Friday, during his first official visit in this capacity. He was received by president Maia Sandu and had meetings with his Moldovan counterpart Mihai Popşoi, and with the speaker of parliament Igor Grosu. Maia Sandu and Emil Hurezeanu discussed ways to strengthen economic ties between the two states and to encourage Romanian companies to invest in Moldova. Emphasis was also placed on improving transport infrastructure, including the construction of new bridges over the Prut and streamlining cross-border traffic. During his meetings in Chişinău, Emil Hurezeanu emphasised that Moldova’s citizens are not alone in facing the energy crisis and can count on the support of Romania and other partners. ‘The destabilising effects of the energy crisis have helped tighten our ties. We are happy that Romania has managed to cover over 60% of the citizens’ current energy demand, and the preparation of high-voltage lines is also underway. We have been and will remain by the side of the Republic of Moldova,’ Emil Hurezeanu concluded.

     

    THEFT The Romanian justice minister Radu Marinescu called on his Dutch counterpart David van Weel to carry on efforts in the case of the theft of Romania’s Dacian treasury items and offered the Dutch side all the necessary support. The two ministers had a bilateral meeting during an informal meeting of EU justice ministers hosted by Warsaw. So far, 3 persons have been detained in connection to the theft. A break-in occurred last weekend at Drents Museum during which a golden helmet and three gold Dacian bracelets were stolen, some of Romania’s most important national heritage items.

     

    FLU The number of respiratory infections is on the rise in Romania and the health ministry declared a state of epidemiological alert. Official data show that almost 134,000 patients were diagnosed with respiratory infection symptoms last week, including 11,000 flu cases. Eight people died from flu last week, taking the toll to 22 this season.

     

    JUSTICE The Romanian justice minister Radu Marinescu Friday took part in an informal meeting of EU justice ministers in Warsaw, where current issues were discussed, such as mutual cooperation in the field of ​​justice, the consequences of Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine and the future of justice. According to a news release issued by the Romanian justice ministry, Radu Marinescu stressed that Romania has offered war victims both support for access to justice, through professional bodies, and other forms of counseling, through Romanian NGOs and authorities. In a separate work session, Radu Marinescu welcomed the initiative of the Polish presidency to continue discussions dedicated to judicial cooperation, under the umbrella of the rule of law.

     

    SPORTS Romanian football champions FCSB (Bucharest) lost 2-0 on Thursday on home turf to the English team Manchester United, in Europa League’s 8th and final round. According to the draw in Nyon (Switzerland) on Friday, the Bucharest team will take on the Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki, coached by the Romanian Răzvan Lucescu, in Europa League’s play-offs for the round of 16. FCSB will play the first leg away from home on February 13, and the return leg in Bucharest on February 20. The winner will play in the round of 16 against Olympique Lyon. In tennis, Romania plays Bulgaria in Craiova on Friday and Saturday, in the Davis Cup World Group I play-offs. The winner moves up to World Group I, while the defeated team will play in World Group II. Romania and Bulgaria have met only once before in the Davis Cup, in 1988, when Romania won decisively with a score of 5-0. (AMP)

  • January 26, Newsflash Update

    January 26, Newsflash Update

    REACTION Romania’s Prime Minister, Marcel Ciolacu, on Sunday announced the setting up at the government level of a crisis cell for the effective coordination of the activities of recovering the four Romanian ancient artefacts stolen from the Drents Museum in Assen, the Netherlands. The aforementioned cell includes representatives of the Romanian police as well as from the Foreign, Interior and Culture Ministries. The Prime Minister says he held talks with Interior Minister, Catalin Predoiu, on the urgent dispatching of a forensic team, who will work together with the Dutch authorities on the case. The General Prosecutor’s Office says that a criminal file has been made ex officio on the burglary in Assen. All the stolen artefacts have been insured under the Romanian and international legislation according to exhibition staging procedures. In a news conference at the National History Museum in Bucharest, director Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu says the artefacts stolen from the Dutch museum are being covered by a-35 million Euros insurance with a Dutch insurance company.

    (bill)

     

     

  • George Enescu and AI

    George Enescu and AI

     

    The George Enescu International Competition is under way in Bucharest, impressing the music lovers night after night with outstanding artistic moments.

    Given that any cultural event, even the well-known ones, wants to draw a wider audience, on the occasion of the 143rd anniversary of composer George Enescu’s birth, ARTEXIM, the organizer of the George Enescu International Festival and Competition, presented this year, for the first time, the immersive show “George Enescu – Poema Română: Immersive Experience”, at the Museum of Immersive New Art, which is intended to be a new series of concerts within the Enescu Festival 2025.

    Under this special project, the public is taken on an original audiovisual journey, exploring the life and work of George Enescu, through the lens of the “Romanian Poem”, Enescu’s first work, composed when its author was only 16.

    From the very beginning, a video introduces the audience to the atmosphere of a concert hall, where the orchestra starts performing the “Romanian Poem”. Against this musical background, the spectators are transported to the picturesque landscapes of Romania, the colors and textures of nature vibrating in sync with the musical notes. While Enescu’s music unfolds, the landscapes merge and transform into various significant places in the composer’s life, creating a visual biographical collage.

    Cristina Uruc, the ARTEXIM manager, talked about the collaboration with Les Ateliers Nomad, who created the virtual experience: “They are visual artists who work with the latest technologies and with artificial intelligence, who train AI and elements created by them to match Enescu’s music and generate new video images. This is exactly what this project is called, an experience, an experiment that together with those from Les Ateliers Nomad we tried to achieve. They have  amazing projects!”

    Due to state-of-the-art technologies, viewers are invited  to see, for the first time, photos of Enescu at different stages of his life and career, animated with the help of artificial intelligence. The video mixes scenes that showcase Enescu’s lasting impact on Romanian and international music, exploring his influence on future generations of musicians and composers.

    George Enescu – Romanian Poem: Immersive Experience is a new experience that combines history, music and technology to bring to life the world and work of George Enescu.

    On this occasion, a new series of concerts was announced, which will take place within the George Enescu International Festival, starting next year, in partnership with JTI – Immersive Experience.

    Gilda Lazăr, Corporate Affairs and Communications Director with JTI Romania, the main partner of the Festival, said: “We are part of this event and are reliable partners of many cultural events in Romania. Over the years we have created events and supported events, projects and cultural institutions. When this project was proposed to us, we obviously said yes. Why? Because “Poema Română”/”Romanian Poem” is Enescu’s Opus number 1, because, indeed, it was written in his youth and is addressed to an audience that did not get the chance to hear it. (…) It was not performed for 43 years and when it finally was, in 1990, it was not filmed, for some reason. Only after 10 years did we manage to reconcile with our past and have a new beginning. You know that the Romanian Poem is dedicated to Romania’s Queen Elizabeth. I imagined what it would have been like for a young man at that time, at 16, to realize that he was living in a kingdom. It was like living in a fairy tale, it was beautiful, it was normal to be excited. The presentation of the Romanian Poem for the first time, in Paris, it was a big event. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has in its archive the information sent by the Romanian ambassador to Paris, from that period.”

    We mention that a representative fragment from the Romanian Poem was used during the Iron Curtain as a signal for the Radio Free Europe broadcasts, which were addressed to Romanians under the communist regime.

    Gilda Lazăr talked about the partnership of JTI and the George Enescu Festival for almost 10 years: “Under the sign of novelty, next year, there will be four concerts, various shows, names like Gigi Căciuleanu or Ruxandra Donose, every Thursday and Friday, at MINA , during the Enescu Festival. This way we will continue a tradition started with the Brâncuşi immersive exhibition, which we also organized with the Art Productin Foundation, a few years ago.”

    The next edition of the George Enescu International Festival will take place between August 24 and September 21, 2025, under the High Patronage of the President of Romania. It is a cultural project financed by the Government of Romania through the Ministry of Culture.

  • August 24, 2024 UPDATE

    August 24, 2024 UPDATE

     

    CONVENTION Romania’s PM Marcel Ciolacu was reconfirmed as leader of the Social Democratic Party on Saturday, and officially nominated as the party’s candidate in the presidential election. In his address on this occasion, he presented the platform for which he hopes to win the president seat: a 10-year plan with 3 strategic directions: industry, agriculture and services. He argued that with its unity, the Social Democratic Party has managed to regain the confidence of Romanians, and that he offered Romanians “a president for all.” The party last won a presidential race in 2000. In their speeches, the Social Democrats teased their partners in the ruling coalition, the Liberals, and mocked the incumbent president, Klaus Iohannis. The first round of the election is scheduled on November 24, and the second on December 8th.

     

    UKRAINE The president of Romania, Klaus Iohannis, sent a letter to his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Ukraine’s Independence Day. According to the Romanian presidency, Iohannis voiced his appreciation for the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian armed forces and civilians in defending their country’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. He reiterated Bucharest’s firm commitment to provide constant, predictable and multidimensional support to Ukraine until its victory and further on in its reconstruction and European integration process. Iohannis emphasized that the security cooperation agreement signed by the 2 countries in July, on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, proves that Romania’s support is not circumstantial, but long-standing, predictable and transparent.

     

    CROPS The European Union’s maize output will be smaller because of the drought and extreme heat in Romania, whose crops will be 30% lower. Estimates for the EU’s maize output were cut from 63 million tonnes, as reported last year, to 60-61 million tonnes, which is still above the level in 2022, when the drought affected the entire continent. Romania’s output is expected to drop from around 11 million tonnes last year to less than 8 million this autumn. In France, favourable humidity levels kept maize crops in a generally good condition, and the increase of the areas under crops should ensure higher output, namely over 14 million tonnes. In Poland, smaller areas under maize crops may lead to a 13% drop in output, while in Germany the crops are estimated to be 2% lower.

     

    PENSIONS The National Liberal Party, a junior member of the ruling coalition in Romania, proposes new amendments to the Pensions Law, so as to address the situation of pensioners whose benefits have been cut down in the latest revision. The Liberal leader and Senate speaker Nicolae Ciucă said the law should not have retrospective effect, and confirmed that the pensioners whose benefits have been cut down on paper will not benefit from cost-of-living adjustments for several years, although they will not be paid smaller amounts. According to official data, over 700,000 pensioners have received decisions by which their benefits have been cut down. These include workers in hazardous conditions, such as coal miners, engine drivers and nuclear industry personnel, who were able to stop working before the standard retirement age. Also at a disadvantage are people with disabilities, where the revised benefits are smaller by as much as 60%, for instance for the visually impaired. Hundreds of people are already asking for explanations from the authorities. They have until September 1 to appeal the decisions, and may even take the matter to court.

     

    MUSEUM The Bucharest Children’s Museum has reopened and is waiting for visitors with new guided interactive tours. The most recent of them shows kids the secrets of physics and chemistry. Entitled “The School of Magic – Wizard’s Castle,” it helps children understand physical and chemical reactions in a setting that reminds them of the Harry Potter universe. Apart from the School of Magic, children can enjoy 3 other tours – one devoted to the great ocean explorers, one to the human brain and one to classical fairytales.

     

    TENNIS Monica Niculescu (Romania) / Hanyu Guo (China) have qualified into the doubles finals of the WTA 500 tournament in Monterrey, Mexico. They defeated Tereza Mihalikova (Slovakia) / Olivia Nicholls (UK) 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 10-4. Niculescu and Guo won the match in 2 hours and 10 minutes and received USD 28,720 and WTA 325 points. In the final on August 25, Niculescu and Guo take on top seeded Giuliana Olmos of Mexico and Alexandra Panova of Russia. (AMP)

  • The cultural-tourist route of open-air museums in Romania

    The cultural-tourist route of open-air museums in Romania

    The cultural-tourist route of open-air museums in Romania, developed at the national level and recognized by the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Tourism, has been launched in Romania considering the large number of tourists who showed interest in these objectives. Developed at the initiative of the County Museum of Ethnography and Folk Art in Baia Mare, the tourist program offers tourists a foray into traditions, in 11 tourist and cultural sites in Romania’s ethnographic heritage.

     

    Monica Mare, the manager of the Maramureș County Museum of Ethnography and Folk Art from Baia Mare says that the idea was born out of the need to promote museums, being a good opportunity to capitalize on the heritage of traditional Romanian architecture:  “The idea of ​​the project initially started with eight museums. We have also created several leaflets on which one can find a map with these museums. If you are in Bucharest, you can start the route from there, from the Dimitrie Gusti Village Museum in Bucharest, which is probably the most visited among the ethnographic museums in Romania, and after that, you can head towards the center of Romania. Tourists can go through the Golești Museum, after that they can reach Brașov, then Sibiu, where they can go to the ASTRA Museum, then travel to Transylvania, to the museum in Cluj and get closer to Maramureș, where they will find two ethnographic museums included in the route, the Village Museum from Baia Mare and the Maramureș Village Museum from Sighetu Marmației, respectively. Also here, in our area, in Oraș Country, in the vicinity of Maramureș, we have the Negrești Oaş Museum, and if we cross the mountains, to Bukovina, we find the Bukovina Village Museum. It depends on how much time the tourist has to visit and we thought that this route can be fully covered or the visitor can choose, in a first phase, a few museums in the area of ​​interest and after that we can arouse their curiosity to reach other areas of the country.”

     

    All open-air museums develop projects throughout the year, but especially in the warm season, which is the high season for visiting. You will be able to see folk craftsmen at work and you will be able to buy items they have created. Moreover, you’ll even be able to participate in the crafting art of the artisans:  “The Baia Mare Village Museum also has such programs. Throughout the year, we organize fairs, and we also have a souvenir shop, where we try to capitalize on the work of the Maramureș craftsmen. The other museums in the country also have such stores. Craftsmen need to be promoted. For the traditions to be passed on to future generations, the craftsmen must understand, especially the younger craftsmen who take over the crafts, that one can live from one’s craft and it is our duty, as ethnographic museums, to support the craftsmen, to make them known. Together with the centers of traditional culture, which have records of these craftsmen, we try to promote them at the travel fairs we participate in, and in the activities carried out by the museum.”

     

    As soon as you enter the Maramureş-style gate of the Baia Mare Village Museum, you are transposed into a world of the authentic Maramureş village, says Monica Mare, manager of the Maramureș County Museum of Ethnography and Folk Art:  “If the Museum in Sighet only preserves objects of traditional architecture from Maramureș Voivodeship, the Village Museum in Baia Mare takes you to the Maramureş villages from all four ethnographic areas. We call them countries: Codru, Chioar, Lăpuș and Maramureș Voivodeship. You can visit a house in Lăpuș, with its thatched roof. You can go inside and see how people used to live, where the fire was made, you can see the oven, or how the baby was rocked in the cradle, or what the guest room looked like, where the most beautiful textiles and the dowry chest were kept and where people met at major life events. The oldest monument we have is our little church, a monument from 1630, which is placed on the hill, as are most of the churches in the Maramureş villages, and practically the museum was formed around it. It was the first monument brought here to the Village Museum. It makes our village alive. The village on the hill, as we call it, is alive, because services are still held in the church on the big holidays and on Sundays. There is a whole community that comes here to worship.”

     

    Another tourist asset promoted at Baia Mare’s Village Museum is the oldest house as part of the museum’s heritage, dated 1758.

    Monica Mare: “The team I coordinate for the time being can boast the fact that, although the years are complicated and the budget is tight, as usual, last year we succeeded to open, for the public, a new traditional architecture asset we transferred to our museum. A house from Chioar Country, a very beautiful one, typical for the Chioar Country style, which we placed in the vicinity of the church, is also from Chioar Country. The blue of the house is so very specific for Maramures, it can be visited by tourists. Also, from Maramures Country we boast the Petrova House, where the founder of the Romanian School of Stomatology, Gheorghe Bilașcu, was born, and these are but a few of the landmarks we offer so you can pay us a visit. I am just saying, “Come on, come to Maramures !” Visit the Village Museum in Baia Mare and all the museums included in the Romanian open-air museum’s ethnographic route! ”

     

    We found out from the manager of the Baia Mare-based Maramures County Ethnography and Traditional Art Museum, Monica Mare, that the available prospectuses are in Romanian and English. At the main assets as part of the visiting circuit there are plaques with a QR code for additional info, which direct you to the site of the institution, where translations are available in the most widely-spoken languages. In another move, children and youngsters can participate in a treasure hunt. They will be dared to cut themselves off from their own cell phones and visit the musem in a different manner. Also, the bigger museums lying along the cultural-tourist route of open-air museums in Romania have a wide range of promotion materials. The Museum in Sibiu, for instance, has Astra App, an application offering guidance, audio guidance included, in several of the most widely-spoken languages. (LS, EN)

  • Romania’s first large-scale exhibition dedicated to Constantin Brancusi

    Romania’s first large-scale exhibition dedicated to Constantin Brancusi


    Timisoara is the European Capital of Culture in 2023. As part of the program titled Timisoara 2023: European Capital of Culture, in late 2023 and early into 2024, Romanias and Eastern-Europes most important exhibition-event in the past 50 years will be mounted, dedicated to Constantin Brancusi. The exhibition is titled Brancusi: Romanian sources and universal perspectives.



    Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) was a Romanian sculptor with a groundbreaking contribution to the renewal of the fine arts language and perspective in contemporary universal sculpture. Brancusi was a true icon, being also dubbed the father of modern sculpture. Brancusi began his artistic career in Romania. Then, in 1903, he continued his artistic activity in Paris, with his maturity works being created in France.



    In Bucharest in early September, in the main building of The National Bank of Romania, the press conference was held, whereby the details were presented to the audience, of the event-exhibition in Timisoara.



    We sat down and spoke to Ovidiu Sandor, the President of the Art Encounters Foundation and the Commissioner of the exhibition dedicated to Brancusi. Here is Ovidiu Sandor himself, telling us what the exhibition represents for the visitors:



    “I think the exhibition is important in various respects. It is Romanias first exhibition in 50 years, dedicated to Brancusi. I believe this symbolic return of Brancusi to his native country is somehow important, if we also consider the context of what happens around us and, in the difficult moments like the ones weve been going through, returning to these landmarks of ours, of the Romanians, of Romanian culture, returning to Brancusi, I believe that is something important. It is an exhibition we have once in a generation. It is an opportunity for everybody see Brancusi in his younger years, but also his maturity works, the works that made him famous. A special introduction, in a curatorial discourse offered by Doina Lemny, presenting, in a balanced way, the entire Romanian influence Brancusi carries with him, in great proportion, when he sets off to Paris, but also the whole process of transformation and refining, in the buildup to Brancusis works, and their universal importance.”



    Ovidiu Șandor also spoke about the works that are on display as part of the exhibition:



    ” …we all think we know Brancusi, yet it is important for us to see his works for real, to immerse in this Brancusi universe the exhibition proposes, with the more than 100 works on display, where we have the chance to see his various preoccupations: sculpture, drawing, presented in their relationship with Romania, but also in connection with what ties Brancusi to his native country, but also with that relevance in universal fine arts Brancusi accomplished. We will bring an important set of sculptures. There are more than 20 sculptures. There will be his iconic sculptures, “Măiastra”, “Bird in Space” “Mademoiselle Pogany”, “The Kiss” and suchlike, but also less well-known sculptures, such as “Terminal Border”, a work Brancusi created in 1945, when Romania lost Bessarabia, and, concurrently, we will also have segments of his work that are less well-known, such as photography, drawing, of course, since drawing is important for any sculptor, documents revealing the way he maintained contact with certain people at home. Film, a film made by Brancusi, film made by other relevant artists featuring Brancusi. So it is a presentation, even if it does not seek to be a retrospective in scope, it is an exhibition which, synthetically, succeeds to present the complexity of his works and the various preoccupations he had as an artist and, of course, beyond that, Brancusi the man bubbles beneath the surface. Yet apart from the exhibition we are preparing an important catalogue, a very serious publication, also coordinated by Doina Lemny, including 16 new contributions on Brancusi, besides, also worth mentioning could be the fact that it is the first Brancusi exhibition where Brancusi is placed in the Romanian context. “



    Here is what the curator of the exhibition and one of the leading international experts on Constantin Brancusis art, Doina Lemny, told us:



    “It is a symbolic return, and I say that every time, a symbolic return of Brancusi to his native country which he never left, in his psyche. Brancusi was the same person who was attached to his country, yet he developed in France. If we try to judge him, why he gave the studio, the old story, why he offered France his studio, that happened because there, for fifty years, he created all his masterpieces. Yet he knew all too well his early works were at home, that is those of the Museum in Craiova and the National Art Museum in Bucharest. “



    Doina Lemny went on to give us detailed info on the origin of the works included in the exhibition titled Brancusi: Romanian sources and universal perspectives.



    “The two museums, we considered two museums alone, two museums and the Foundation in Venice, being already confined by the area offered by the museum in Timisoara, which is not a very generous one. There are very few rooms, exhibitions halls, 11, and the sculptures cannot be crammed or heaped up so you can present them all in one go, because otherwise they are not visible, they kill each other. So we made an appeal to two museums, to the generosity of two great museums, Tate Gallery, which lent three of the four works they have, and we need to praise that, and the Pompidou Centre which, through Brancusis Studio, owns the worlds greatest collection of works. We did not approach the American museums for space-related reasons, as I said, and also for financial reasons. “



    Here is Doina Lemny once again, this time telling us what, in her opinion, Brancusi the artist meant:



    “Brancusi means a man I need to question permanently, and that because he keeps his mystery. The more I advance, the greater the number of the questions I ask myself about this man who knew how to analyze every moment in life and how to render it, since he rendered shapes but he did nor render the being, he did not reproduce, he reproduced an idea instead yet he did not reproduce a character. For me, Brancusi remains a mystery and no, maybe I do not have that urge to grasp his mystery completely. Actually, he himself used to say:” Do not ask the creators, besides, the veil doesnt have to be revealed, lifted completely. “




  • The Fagaras Citadel, among the world’s most beautiful such edifices

    The Fagaras Citadel, among the world’s most beautiful such edifices

    Our stopover today is Brasov County, where we will get to know one of Romania’s best-preserved monuments. A great number of publications worldwide have written that it is one of the world’s most beautiful citadels. The Fagaras Citadel, for which construction works were completed in the 16th century, was besieged 26 times, but it was never conquered. Today, on the premises, inside the citadel, we can find the Valer Literat, Fagaras Country Museum, whose doors have been opened for us by the director, Elena Băjenaru.



    The Fagaras Citadel, the Fagaras Country area’s most important historical monument, is a historical monument built over 600 years ago by Wallachia’s ruling princes. It is a citadel for which, as we speak, the final stage is carried, of a restoration project implemented with European funding. In our citadel, the tourist has access crossing a wooden bridge, rebuilt as part of the project, just as it was in the 17th century. It is a citadel which, as we speak, is one of Romania’s best-preserved defense citadels, surrounded by a moat, also built sometime in mid-16th century. It is a citadel surrounded by two massive defense walls with four bastions. Actually, this citadel, which has a perfectly developed defense system, has never been conquered in an armed confrontation, yet it was looted several times.



    Before entering the museum and before visiting the castle, the tourists can take an outer circuit of the premises. With details on that, here is Elena Bajenaru once again.



    They can see the bastions, the two defense walls, they can take a walk along the sentry road, rebuilt and restored just as it was in the 17th century. In one of the bastions an exhibition is to be mounted, dedicated to the Fagaras Citadel’s guard. We have a citadel guard and we re-enact a ceremony for the opening and closing of the gates, just as it was in the 17th century, during the reign of one of the citadel’s princesses, Anna Bornemisza. Then they can enter a very beautiful inner courtyard, in the middle of which the 17th century fountain was restored. They can climb up the stairs and, beginning with the 1st floor, they can enter the museum. In the museum, we present one ne hand, the history of the Fagaras Country, an area with a very rich history. They can also have the chance to see period realignments as part of that exhibition circuit. We have restored the Hall of the Assembly, the Assembly of Transylvania, Transylvania’s Government and Parliament as it was at that time, we restored the bedroom of one of the Fagaras Citadel’s princesses, Anna Bornemisza and, of course, access is also provided to exhibitions of decorative art, fine arts, peasant crafts, or temporary exhibitions. On the second floor we have arranged four rooms. We call them the Throne Hall. In the 17th century record books, they were entered as The Great Palace, there where the Transylvanian princes received in audience the envoys of the European powers. Miron Costin, but also the king of Poland, Sobiesky, were accommodated in this room. Now these four rooms have a cultural purpose. We stage cultural events, classical and medieval music concerts, cultural activities in general, and they are spectacular.



    The citadel’s restoration project will be completed by the end of May, while as soon as that is achieved, beginning June 1st, the ceremony for the opening and closing of the gates will be resumed. Then you can see the citadel guard, made of 12 soldiers clad in the 17th century armour and there is also one of the citadel’s princesses who will show up, reading a document issued around the year 1678. In another move, the director of the Valer Literat, Fagaras Country Museum, Elena Bajenaru said, it is interesting we can establish a connection between torture and the citadel, for at least two reasons.



    In the citadel, after 1700, a torture mechanism was brought, known as the Iron Maid. It is a mechanism that was first documented in Spain, somewhere around 1515, when the one who was sentenced to death was sent to kiss, as a last homage, an image of the Virgin Mary hanging on the body of that mechanism. The culprit approached the mechanism and, as he was stepping on a manhole, a couple of knives darted from behind, penetrating the body of the one who was sentenced. The manhole snapped open and the body fell into a channel where several spears were placed, having the points upwards. The channel communicated with Olt river, flowing 700-800 away from the citadel. Then the Făgăraș Citadel has a Prison Cell Tower that used to be a pretty tough medieval prison, as well as a communist prison for a decade, between 1950 and 1960, with almost 5,000 political detainees being imprisoned here.



    During the summer season, which is drawing near, if you hit the Fagaras Citadel, you can take part in unforgettable events.



    Elena Bajenaru once again.



    Apart from the cultural projects, temporary exhibitions, book launches, we stage a medieval festival in the last weekend of August. It is a medieval festival with knightly orders participating, from Transylvania and elsewhere in Romania. We have medieval theatre performances, medieval music concerts, classical music concerts, medieval theatre, combat demonstrations, smithy workshops, everything that was and can still be associated with the activities revolving around this medieval citadel. Then, on our way out of the exhibition circuit, we have a very well-stocked souvenir shop. We also have citadel guides in English and Hungarian, we have books in English about Transylvania, about the most important monuments Romania has, apart from what we usually offer as souvenirs to go with the Fagaras Citadel.



    Nearby Fagaras Citadel there are two other monuments the director of the Valer Literat Fagaras Country Museum, Elena Bajenaru, strongly recommends the tourists to visit, should they spend more time in the area.



    First of all, I should send them to visit the church built by Brâncoveanu in late 17th century, somewhere around 1697, for two reasons, at least. The church is endowed with a very beautiful painting, made by Preda the Painter, also because the altar piece of that little church could be viewed as the most beautiful altar piece of the entire Brancoveanu-era art. It also lies very close to the citadel, so it is worth visiting it. I should also recommend tourists to visit the Roman-Catholic Church, a former Franciscan monastery, which also lies close by . It is known as one of Transylvania’s first churches with a Baroque-style painting.



    So here we have an interesting tourist destination. Beginning June the 1st, it waits for you with its doors wide open, but also with very many and extremely diverse events.




  • Brukenthal Exclusive: Meisterwerke der Universalkunst beim Art Safari

    Brukenthal Exclusive: Meisterwerke der Universalkunst beim Art Safari

    Zu den Sonderveranstaltungen im Art Safari gehörte die temporäre Ausstellung Brukenthal Exclusive. Darin konnte das Publikum einige der wertvollsten Gemälde Rumäniens bewundern, die aus dem Brukenthal-Museum in Hermannstadt für eine kurze Zeit nach Bukarest gebracht wurden. Der Baron Samuel von Brukenthal (1721-1803) war ein rumäniendeutscher Jurist und Gouverneur von Siebenbürgen im 18. Jahrhundert, aber auch ein großer Kunstsammler und Gründer des Museums, das seit 1790 seinen Namen trägt.



    Fünf Meisterwerke des internationalen Kulturerbes aus dem Brukenthal-Museum waren in Bukarest zu sehen. Etwa das berühmte Porträt eines Mannes mit einem blauen Chaperon“ von Jan van Eyck (1390-1441). Der flämische Maler des späten Mittelalters gilt als wahrer Erneuerer und entscheidende Figur in der Geschichte der europäischen Malerei und war der Legende nach der Künstler, der die Ölmalerei perfektionierte. Dann das Bildnis eines lesenden Mannes und die Betende Frau mit Hund“ des großen Porträtmalers Hans Memling (1435-1494); Ecce Homo“ von Tizian (Tiziano Vecellio, 1488-1576), dem berühmten italienischen Maler der venezianischen Schule; und schließlich das kleine Porträt Der Kopf eines Jungen“ des Spätrenaissance-Malers Paolo Veronese (1528-1588).



    Wir sprachen mit der Direktorin von Art Safari, Ioana Ciocan, darüber, wie diese besondere Ausstellung im Zentrum der Hauptstadt organisiert wurde:



    Alexandru Chituță ist der Kurator dieser Ausstellung, und er hat sich eine Ausstellung mit den größten Meisterwerken unter den Meisterwerken ausgedacht. Das bedeutet, dass von den insgesamt 1.200 Gemälden aus dem Nachlass des Barons von Brukenthal 50 echte Universalmeisterwerke sind, und von diesen 50 sind die in Bukarest ausgestellten die wichtigsten. Und die Namen dieser Künstler sind nur bei Brukenthal zu finden. Es handelt sich um Veronese, Tizian, Van Eyck und Hans Memling. Als ich den Vorschlag des Brukenthal-Museums hörte, fühlte ich mich sehr geehrt und war sehr überrascht, denn das wertvollste Werk Rumäniens, <Der Mann mit dem blauen Chaperon> von Van Eyck, befindet sich jetzt im Dacia-Romania-Palast auf der Lipscani, im Zentrum der Hauptstadt. Der Raum ist ein spezieller Brukenthal-Saal, und die Bedingungen dort müssen Museumsbedingungen sein. Die Temperatur kann nicht ansteigen, so dass sich nicht viele Menschen gleichzeitig in dem Raum aufhalten und nicht zu viele Menschen Eintrittskarten für dieses ganz besondere Ereignis kaufen durften.



    Der Versicherungswert der Leihgaben des Brukenthal-Museums beläuft sich auf 75 Millionen Euro, eine extrem hohe Summe für Rumänien. Wie wurden die Werke also versichert? Ioana Ciocan kennt die Antwort:



    Wir konnten die Meisterwerke mit Hilfe von internationalen Maklern sichern. Die Werke sind im Vereinigten Königreich versichert, weil es aufgrund des Umfangs und der Geschwindigkeit des Projekts unmöglich war, sie in Rumänien zu versichern. Es tut mir leid, dass dies geschieht, und ich hatte gehofft, wir könnten einen rumänischen Versicherer finden und sie hier versichern. Mit dem sicheren Transport in Begleitung von Gendarmen und CPI Security war es etwas einfacher, weil wir den Transport mit Orbit Fine Art durchführen konnten, die bereits Erfahrung mit dem Transport von beweglichen Kulturgütern von universellem Wert, aus der Kategorie Staatsschatz, haben. Da war es also etwas einfacher. Wenn man natürlich von einem einfachen Spezialtransport sprechen kann, mit einer sicheren Begleitung der rumänischen Gendarmerie, die das Alt-Tal durchquerte.



    Die Direktorin von Art Safari gab anschließend ein Geständnis über den Art Safari Kunstpavilion ab, der vom Kulturministerium als strategisches Projekt für Rumänien eingestuft wurde. Gleichzeitig verriet Ioana Ciocan einige der Projekte, die Art Safari für die 12. Ausgabe und sogar bis 2024 vorbereitet.



    Zunächst einmal fühlen wir uns sehr geehrt durch die Entscheidung von Minister Lucian Romașcanu, den Art Safari zu einem strategischen Projekt zu erklären. Wir sind uns der Verantwortung bewusst, die dieser ehrenvolle Titel mit sich bringt, und wir bereiten bereits interessante Ausstellungen für 2024 vor. Das Ausstellungsprogramm für 2023 ist vollständig und umfasst neben diesen Meisterwerken vom Brukenthal auch eine Ausstellung in der National Portrait Gallery und eine im renommierten Royal Victoria and Albert Museum. Vom 4. bis 14. Mai folgt eine Ausstellung von Nicolae Grigorescu. Wir haben eine vom Victoria and Albert kuratierte Ausstellung mit dem Titel <Angels and Demons>, die speziell für Art Safari konzipiert wurde, einem Gegenpol zu den zeitgenössischen Künstlern. Dann die Retrospektive <Artachino>, kuratiert von Elena Olariu, in Partnerschaft mit dem Museum von Bukarest und dem Nationalen Kunstmuseum von Rumänien. Neben diesen beiden Museen sind natürlich auch die Partnermuseen jedes Mal dabei – Constanța, Iași, Cluj, Timișoara, Oradea, Satu-Mare und ich habe nicht die Zeit, sie alle aufzuzählen, aber es wäre mir eine große Freude, sie alle zu erwähnen, denn sie sind bei jeder großen Retrospektive dabei, die Elena Olariu aufbaut. Und natürlich hat die Nationale Porträtgalerie speziell für Art Safari eine Ausstellung <Love Stories> zusammengestellt, die Meisterwerke von Van Dyck, aber auch von Angelika Kauffman oder Man Ray enthält.

  • The Museum of Icons on Glass in Sibiel

    The Museum of Icons on Glass in Sibiel

    Located 20 kilometers away from Sibiu, the village of Sibiel became in time a rural site of touristic and heritage interest. Traditionally inhabited by Romanians settled in the vicinity of the big city in southern Transylvania, in the area known as Mărginimea Sibiului, Sibiel is also home to the most important museum of icons on glass in Romania. Masterpieces of naive peasant art, as well as objects of worship, the icons on glass adorned the homes of people in most regions of Romania. And starting at the end of the 1960s, they started being collected by the priest Zosim Oancea to be exhibited in the museum he founded in the courtyard of the Holy Trinity church in Sibiel.



    The current parish priest, Bogdan Flueraș, will next tells us about the biography of Father Zosim and about his creation: “This museum was built by father Zosim Oancea between 1976-1983, in full communist period. He came to Sibiel in 1964, after a period of 15 years of communist detention. In 1965 he rediscovered the painting from the Holy Trinity church in Sibiel and in 1969 he had this special idea to create a museum of icons on glass and thus laid the foundations of the first museum of icons, also in Sibiel, in a smaller building, which he finished in 1973.Then, because the building was too small to serve its purpose, Father Zosim manages to erect the current building. Father Zosim was not from the area of Mărginimea Sibiului. He was born in the village of Alma, also in Sibiu County, but near the city of Mediaș. He taught religion in a school in Sibiu and that’s how he ended up being imprisoned. Afterwards he became a priest in Sibiel where he died.



    Along the years, the Sibiel museum gathered an impressive collection of over 600 icons on glass from all over the country, the oldest dating from the 18th century and the newest from the 19th century. The icons come from the village of Nicula, located in Cluj county, from Mărginimea Sibiului, from Bucovina and the north of Moldavia, from the areas of Brașov and Făgăraş, and also from the west of the country, from Banat.



    Next, the parish priest Bogdan Flueraș will tell us how they got to Sibiel: “These icons belonged to the people of the village before they reached our museum. Father Zosim brought the icons from their houses. Some icons were purchased or donated, but most of them were brought from peoples homes. I could tell you the story of one of the icons in our museum. Father Zosim had a way with the people. He once went to the house of a faithful woman and saw there, on the wall, a special icon. Of course, he asked her to give the icon to the museum, because there it would have more visibility and many other people would be able to admire it. The woman was not very pleased with Father Zosim’s proposal, but still she made a promise to the father: if he managed to collect 99 icons, then her icon will be the hundredth. Of course, Father Zosim quickly collected 99 icons and the woman kept her word and gave the icon to the museum.



    Most of these icons represent the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ, as well as saints such as Saint George, considered the protector of spring, Saint Elijah, the protector of summer, Saint Nicholas, the patron of winter and Saint Demetrius, associated with the autumn season. Therefore, the icons on glass represent the peasant universe dominated by religious beliefs, and also by the concern for nature.



    The paints and materials used to create the icons are also natural, as we have learnt from the parish priest Bodgan Flueraș: “The peasants used colors that they could find in their households, such as the egg yolk or egg white. The glass used for the icons is also different. At first, icons were painted on a very thin glass, which can be easily seen by visitors. Basically, these icons differ a lot in terms of colors and sizes. For example, the first painted icons were those from Cluj. They are small, have much more sober, much darker colors. But they are equally very beautiful. Then, there are the icons originating from the Sebeș and Alba Iulia area, which have a certain shade of green. The color blue predominates in Mărginimea Sibiului, as well as in the area of ​​Brașov and Făgăraș. In Bucovina and in the north of Moldavia, the yellow color predominates, as well as the green color. We even have an icon, very beautiful, in which Jesus Christ the Savior is painted with a fur waistcoat from Suceva region. This shows that people not only worship and honor icons, but also adapt them to the folk traditions of their area. Thus, in the Cluj area, at Nicula, or in the Mureș Valley, we find that specific headscarf with which the iconographers or peasants adorned the Virgin Mary-Mother of Jesus in these icons. So, the icons can be differentiated according to these details.



    Born in 1911, Father Zosim Oancea died in 2005, and the museum of icons on glass that he established in Sibiel contributed to the transformation of the village into a place of cultural and tourist interest. (LS)


  • Kunstpavillon Art Safari findet zum bereits zehnten Mal statt

    Kunstpavillon Art Safari findet zum bereits zehnten Mal statt

    In dieser Ausgabe haben die Organisatoren für das Publikum einen Streifzug durch das Werk von John Constable (1776-1837), englischer Maler der Romantik, Revolutionär des Landschaftsgenres und einer der wertvollsten britischen klassischen Maler, vorbereitet.


    Die koreanische Kunst wird in einer Reihe von spektakulären Postern vorgestellt. Und natürlich der rumänische Kunstpavillon mit dem Maler, Zeichner und Grafiker Ștefan Popescu (1972-1948) und dem jungen Klausenburger Künstler Mihai Mureșan, einem Künstler der Stadtlandschaft. Wir sprachen mit Art Safari-Direktorin Ioana Ciocan über die 10. Ausgabe:



    Ich empfehle Ihnen die Sammlung des großartigen Victoria and Albert Museum, eines der bedeutendsten Museen der Welt, die hier im Dacia-Romania Palace zu sehen ist. Die Ausstellung ist John Constable, dem Grigorescu der Engländer, gewidmet, eine beeindruckende Ausstellung, die uns vor allem durch den Wert der Werke und vor allem durch dieses vertraute Gefühl überrascht, das wir beim Betrachten von Constables Werken empfinden. Und wenn ich sage vertraut, dann meine ich das Gefühl, das wir jedes Mal haben, wenn wir die großen Museen der Welt besuchen, denn genau das werden wir hier finden. Ein großartiges Museum im Herzen der Hauptstadt, dank der Partnerschaft des Victoria and Albert mit Art Safari. Natürlich kann ich nicht nur über John Constable sprechen, denn neben ihm, im Dacia-Romania-Palast auf der Lipscani, gibt es die Ausstellung, die Ștefan Popescu gewidmet ist, eine Ausstellung, die in Partnerschaft mit dem Museum von Bukarest gemacht wurde, und die einen Maler, Künstler, Graveur, der vom französischen Staat, aber auch von den Rumänen sehr geschätzt wurde, in einer äußerst interessanten Rolle präsentiert, nämlich als reisender Maler. Zu sehen sind Werke aus Rumänien, Frankreich, Italien, Marokko, Albanien und Ägypten. Denn er malte und reiste und reiste und malte. Er war der einzige Rumäne, der dreimal an der Biennale von Venedig teilgenommen hat. Und der Name Popescu, der uns so nahe steht, soll von nun an mit der Malerei in Verbindung gebracht werden, das möchte ich Ihnen sagen.


    Nicht zu vergessen die Ausstellung, die Lilian Theil gewidmet ist, einer überraschenden Künstlerin, die 1932 in Kronstadt (Zentralrumänien) geboren wurde und mit einer Nadel malt. Es gibt einige sehr interessante Stiche, die in der Apliqué-Technik ausgeführt werden. Und die Kuratorin Raluca Ilaria Demetrescu stellt sie uns vor, indem sie alle wichtigen Momente der jüngeren Geschichte einfängt: Pandemien, Beerdigungen, Hochzeiten, turbulente Ehen, Geschichten, Liebe, erotische Szenen, also im Grunde alles, was wir erleben, finden wir in ihren Werken. Aus Klausenburg (Nordwesten) kommt Mihai Mureșan. Eine Ausstellung, kuratiert von Professor Ioan Sbârciu. Die Schule in Klausenburg muss nicht vorgestellt werden, denn sie hat die großen internationalen Superstars der letzten 20 Jahre hervorgebracht, und ich sage mit Stolz, was Professor Sbîrciu heute morgen sagte: dass Mihai Muresan sich in die lange Liste derer einreihen wird, die aus Klausenburg kommen.



    Wie schwierig war es, eine so komplexe Ausstellung in einem so turbulenten zeitgenössischen Kontext zu organisieren, mit Konflikten, gestrichenen Flügen und einem schwierigen wirtschaftlichen Klima? Ioana Ciocan antwortet:



    Ja, es war äußerst schwierig, und dieser Vertrag wurde über Jahre hinweg ausgehandelt. Natürlich mit Hilfe der britischen Botschaft in Rumänien und mit Hilfe des gesamten Teams, das sehr daran interessiert war, dass dieses großartige Museum in Rumänien präsent ist. Ich hoffe also, dass diejenigen, die Constable lieben – und ich spreche hier von Europäern – ins Flugzeug steigen und, warum nicht, nach Bukarest kommen, um John Constable zu sehen.



    Ioana Ciocan, die Direktorin der Art Safari, spricht ferner über die koreanische Ausstellung, die eine ganz andere Überraschung für das kunstinteressierte Publikum darstellt, diesmal im internationalen Pavillon, bei der 10. Ausgabe 2022.



    Südkorea schickt eine ganz andere Kunst als das, was wir bei Art Safari ausstellen, nämlich Poster. Ein vom koreanischen Alphabet inspiriertes Poster. Ein äußerst farbenfrohes, lebendiges und sehr gut gestaltetes Plakat. Byoungil Sun ist ein international mehrfach ausgezeichneter Künstler und er wird sogar nach Bukarest kommen und einige Workshops für Kunststudenten aus dem ganzen Land abhalten. Aber das ist natürlich noch nicht alles. Sie sollten wissen, dass wir auch zeitgenössische Kunstinstallationen von Mihai Muresan haben, zwei davon, eine in der zentralen Halle und eine oben, im zweiten Stock, direkt in seiner Ausstellung. Und da wir auf Safari sind, gibt es natürlich auch jede Menge Dschungel.



    Am Ende unserer Diskussion gibt uns Ioana Ciocan einige persönliche Empfehlungen aus der Art Safari-Ausstellung:



    Auch in diesem Jahr teilen wir die Pavillons in zwei, den internationalen Pavillon mit zwei Ausstellungen und den nationalen Pavillon mit drei Ausstellungen, so dass wir Kunstliebhabern empfehlen, mehrmals zur Art Safari zu kommen. Wenn ich mich für drei Werke entscheiden müsste, würde ich Leaping Horse, ein Werk aus dem Victoria and Albert Museum, wählen, dann Byoungil Sun, ein signiertes Werk von Dürer aus dem Jahr 1502, ein Stich, der Constable inspirierte. Und natürlich wähle ich ein Werk von Rembrandt, einen absolut fabelhaften Baum, der auch Constable zu seinen Landschaften inspirierte. Es lohnt sich, gleichzeitig Constable zu sehen, aber auch Gainsborough und Turner, Rembrandt und natürlich Dürer.

  • Exhibitions in 2022, hosted by the Bucharest Municipality Museum

    Exhibitions in 2022, hosted by the Bucharest Municipality Museum

    A string of painting, sculpture and graphic art exhibitions whose eventual aim is to put to good use the rich heritage of Bucharests Art Gallery Collection will be mounted by the Bucharest Municipality Museum all throughout 2022. Brought to the fore for art lovers will be artists house-studios, but also costume collections, rare documents, traditional art and photographs of old Bucharest. The beginning of the museum is linked to the decision of Bucharest Town Halls Communal Council, issued in late July 1921, whereby the suggestion was put forward, for the foundation of a communal museum. In 1956 it was officially decided that The Sutu Palace (a historical monument built in 1834) would become the headquarters of the museum. In 1959, the History Museum of the City of Bucharest was reopened to the public. The museums history and fine arts sections merged, and that is how Bucharest Municipal Citys Arts and History Museum came into being. In 1999, the institution regained its initial name, the Bucharest Municipality Museum. At the moment, part of Bucharest Municipality Museum are 14 museums, collections and memorial houses. One such museum is “Theodor Aman. ” The museum awaits its public for a temporary exhibition, to be inaugurated on April 7th. The museum will be open to the public until March 2023. From May 27, on the premises at the Frederic Storck and Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck Museum, an exhibition will be opened, themed “From Cape Kaliakra to Balchik. A painting itinerary.”



    Elena Olariu is the deputy director of Bucharest Municipality Museums Art, Restoration and Preservation Centre. She will now be speaking about those exhibitions, to be opened soon on the premises of Bucharest Municipality Museum.



    “The Theodor Aman Museum is one Bucharests most beautiful museums, playing host to painter Theodor Amans collection, it was also his house, a lot of people must have visited the museum already. Those who are not familiar with it, I invite them to seize the opportunity, the house is superb. It is an old house we preserved, in a bid to keep the interior just as it was decorated when the painter was still alive. Then again, apart from the permanent exhibition, in April, an exhibition will also be opened, themed Aman in plein air. Which means we present what the artist painted outdoors. Our lady colleagues were very inspired when they picked up the theme, as it is an opportunity to see the gardens Theodor Aman painted. In the month of May we will have another exhibition, just as interesting, venued by the Frederic Storck and Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck Museum. Paintress Cecilia Cuțescu-Storck travelled to Balchik many times, there she met Queen Marie of Romania, a close friend of hers. Therefore, the exhibition will present Cecilia Cuțescu-Storcks works, inspired by those places. Ours will be an artistic journey, we will also have the chance to see the interior of the house, with a couple of novel works belonging to the Storck family house, we hope it will be an interesting exhibition. Actually, each year we stage small-scale exhibitions on the premises at the Storck Museum, and this time I decided we should focus on Balchik as well.”



    In late April this year, the Sutu Palace in Bucharest will play host to the exhibition themed “Phanariot Princely Documents as part of the Bucharest Municipality Museum Collection”. Starting May 18, the Sutu Palace will also be the venue for an exhibition themed “The Romanian principalities. Landscapes of the 19th century European engraving”. The exhibition puts to good use the heritage of the Bucharest Municipality Museums Prints and Imprints Collection. Also, the exhibition seeks to introduce visitors to the Romanian atmosphere of the 19th century. More than 50 works will be exhibited, depicting places in the Romanian Principalities captured by foreign engravers, and bringing center-stage elements of urban and rural architecture. Two exhibitions will be opened in August, as part of the Donations and Donors series. The Sutu Palace will venue the “Ioana Gabriela and Alexandru Beldiman Donation”, while the Nicolae Minovici Museum will play host to the exhibition themed “Under the Sign of Royalty: the Photographs of a young princess.” Elena Olariu is the deputy director of Bucharest Municipality Museums Art, Restoration and Preservation Section. Here she is again, speaking about this coming Septembers exhibition hosted by the Sutu Palace, themed “Painter Gheorghe Tattarescus Family, Faith and Home. “



    “It will be an exhibition dedicated to Gheorghe Tattarescus house, so we will exhibit several objects from that house. These are objects that have been restored, and that was accomplished thanks to my colleagues who succeeded to restore a great part of the Gheorghe Tattarescu Memorial House, and Im speaking about objects but also about paintings. We will have on display ceramics, painted icons, books, artists personal objects, several paintings of a small exhibition, so that the public can see those wonderful objects that have also been restored. They will be presented as an absolute first, which is also an opportunity to make the work of our colleagues in the Restoration section known to visitors. Perhaps very few people know that most of the exhibited objects also go through the restoration labs, where our colleagues work, and the work they do is less well-known to the public, yet it is a kind of work we have been trying to bring center-stage, via those types of exhibitions.”



    In September and October, 2022, the Bucharest Municipality Museum, though its exhibitions, will put to good use the creation of three women sculptors: Elena Surdu Stănescu, Henriette Cihoschi and Doina Lie.


    (EN)




  • Museums in Brasov County

    Museums in Brasov County

    The Brasov Etnography Museum, in
    the central part of the country, takes pride in rich and diverse collections,
    grouped together in several separate entities: the Museum of Brasov Urban Civilisation,
    the Săcele Ethnographic Museum and the Gheorghe Cernea Ethnographic Museum in
    Rupea.

    Their diverse heritage, rich exhibitions, and unique events are an
    alternative to the active tourism offer of this mountainous area. Our guest
    today is Bogdana Balmuș, head of PR for the Brașov Ethnography Museum:

    The Brașov Ethnography Museum was founded in 1908, upon the initiative
    of 5 Saxon collectors from Brasov, who
    put together Museum of Brasov Collectors Association. The founder was Iulius
    Teutsch. The museum developed, and in 1912 it was renamed the Saxon Museum of Țara
    Bârsei. Its activity was terminated at the end of WW2. Some of its collections
    went either to the University of Brașov, of to the Brașov Regional Museum, set up in 1950. In
    1967, an ethnography section was established as part of the Brașov County Museum,
    and in 1990 this section became a separate legal entity. This brief history is
    indicative of the rich heritage of the Brașov Ethnography Museum. Artifacts
    are on display both in the central office in Brasov, and in the branches in
    Săcele and Rupea, and they are specific to the regional ethnology of south-east
    Transylvania, showcasing the rural civilisation of the regions Bran, Rupea,
    Țara Oltului, Valea Hârtibaciului and Țara Bârsei.




    At
    the Săcele Ethnographic Museum tourists can see heritage items illustrating the
    pastoral traditions in the region, as well as items tied to the identity of the
    Chango ethnic group living in the area. Bogdana Balmuș:


    The museum is hosted by a building which is a
    historical monument, dating back to 1543. As part of the permanent exhibition,
    tourists can see how people lived back then, what their occupations were, their
    crafts, their arts. Tourists can also see a living area and traditional
    costumes. We laid emphasis on showcasing the multicultural nature of the Săcele
    area, by replicating a space shared by shepherds and Changos.




    At the Gheorghe Cernea Ethnographic
    Museum in Rupea, we can find a representation of the mixed communities of
    Romanians and Saxons, Bogdana Balmuș also told us:


    This collection showcases the occupations, crafts,
    customs, living quarters specific to the area. I would like to emphasise that
    the museum was named after folklorist Gheorghe Cernea, a major personality of
    this region, who published impressive collections of folklore. The museum
    mirrors the systematic research conducted by its staff over the years. It has
    taken decades to put together these collections, starting from a handful of
    valuable artifacts offered in the early 20th Century by passionate
    collectors.


    Our visit takes us further on to
    the most recent museum operating under the aegis of the Ethnography Museum. Opened
    after the end of the communist regime in Romania, this museum is called the
    Museum of Brașov Urban Civilisation. Bogdana Balmuș:


    This is a unique museum for Romania. It takes us on a
    journey into the urban history of Brașov. The building hosting the museum is
    very old, and it was declared a historic monument in 2004. The building was
    mentioned in documents dating back to the 13th and 14th
    centuries, and it was rebuilt in 1566. The house was decorated so as to reflect
    the interests of its owners, who were rich merchants. Until the end of 19th
    Century, it belonged to the Closius family, whose members were Saxon nobility and
    held important official positions in the town. The family used to live
    upstairs, and the ground floor was rented out to various merchants, who sold
    from iron items to fish or copper bowls.


    Various exhibitions and events
    are always organised in all these locations, so a visit to any of them may come
    with pleasant surprises. Bogdana Balmuș, the PR chief of the Brașov Ethnography
    Museum, told us more:




    We are preparing a very beautiful temporary
    exhibition on Religious Icons from south-east Transylvannia. The exhibition will
    be opened until June at the Valer Literat Museum of Țara Făgărașului. Also,
    the Urban Civilisation Museum will host another temporary exhibition on
    Romanian costumes and clothing in Șcheii Brașovului, opened in early May. The cultural
    agenda of the year 2022 is as rich in events as it was in previous years,
    comprising lots of projects and temporary exhibitions, such as Toys, dolls and
    games, also hosted by the Urban Civilisation Museum. In Rupea we will mount an
    exhibition entitled Fishing on Olt river, as well as lots of other surprises.




    Bogdana Balmuș, the PR chief of the Brașov Ethnography
    Museum, wrapped up today’s edition of Traveller’s Guide. (AMP)

  • Traveler in the Easter Tradition

    Traveler in the Easter Tradition

    The Dimitrie Gusti National Village Museum is a special place. It is a breath of fresh air in a bustling city. It is a joy in every season to see nature in all its splendor, while living the atmosphere of villages of yore. It is a place where people of all ages can find their roots, while on holidays we can discover ancestral traditions. We stopped over there to talk to communications director Mariana Balaci about the Traveler in the Easter Tradition workshops:


    “As every year, this year we are trying to make our own decorations and jewelry, clothing, and we are trying to learn from traditional craftsmen how to paint Easter eggs and how to work with handmade thread, including embroidery. This year especially we tried to hold workshops up until the Sunday before Easter, aimed at children 6 to 12, organized each Sunday, in the idea of providing the opportunity to spend quality time with family in the village museum. So, children attend the workshops, while parents take a nice Sunday stroll through the Village Museum. We are glad that this year too we have quite a demand for organizing this series of workshops, and we are glad that these kids are willing to learn, and that parents are eager to initiate them in the arts of traditional crafts, learned from the traditional craftsmen and the fine artists we work with.”




    Children are expected here to prepare for the most important celebration in Christianity, taking part in lessons for wax engraving on eggs, the technique of double strand weaving, and making decorative objects out of natural or recyclable materials, such as corn husks, pressed flowers, seeds, thread, wood, or cardboard.



    Iuliana Balaci, communications director with the Village Museum, added:


    “We are in the seventh edition of the Traveler in the Easter Tradition, and we are happy that with each edition we are pulling in more traditional artists and fine artists, and we are trying, as much as we can, based on the early and continual education principle, to teach children to love traditional arts, to love this immaterial heritage, and talk about it, and as a result of this communication to have more kids subscribe. Every time, even we say that there are 10 kids in a given workshop, we always have 12 or 15 who wish to take part in this series of workshops. Basically, every Sunday until Easter we have workshops for weaving, woodwork, corn husk weaving, and egg painting. The Traveler in the Easter Tradition series is on every Sunday, and they continue during the Palm Sunday series, when we also hold egg painting lessons, but also workshops for baking holiday donuts, Lazarus Saturday cakes, bread, and Lent cakes. So, here we have a prolonged edition upon request from our audience, which we took in, organizing more activities than the ones we started off wishing to hold.”




    Iuliana Balaci continued:


    “Each Sunday until Palm Sunday we have 10 children at a minimum, lets say well have about 15 per workshop, so we will have about 60 kids each Sunday, plus those who will come to the demonstration ones, so lets say 100 children. For us, 100 children at the Traveler in the Easter Tradition events is added value, and each kid who attends them is a teenager and a young person we have won on the side of traditional arts and events, which we promote with love.”




    Even if everyday life does not allow us to make our own household objects, as was done in the past, knowledge of the craft can open the door for reinterpreting, for creating a sustainable way of life. The Village Museum in Bucharest remains a place for finding oneself, but also a permanent source of inspiration and beauty. Iuliana Balaci conveyed through us an open invitation:


    “We await you eagerly, everyone who want to visit, from young to old, at the |Village Museum, a village in the middle of a noisy capital, a village in which the trees are already in bloom, a village that is waiting for its visiting public and the young public, for a pleasant stroll, for discovery and rediscovery of heritage, and to learn useful things. We conclude the Traveler in the Easter Tradition event with spring, and more importantly Easter traditions, continued with the Palm Sunday series, organized by our museum on April 16 and 17. Then we will have a lot of surprises, many beautiful things we have prepared for the public at large. Obviously we are paying close attention to the kids, for which we have prepared additional workshops. Therefore, pay attention to our museums Facebook page, and to the official website of the museum, www.muzeul-satului.ro, where we will publish information about these events.”




    For the time being, unfortunately the workshops are not set up to accommodate children with special needs, because the teachers do not have expert training for that domain.

  • Museum der Nationalbank erwartet wieder Besucher

    Museum der Nationalbank erwartet wieder Besucher


    Das Gebäude der Nationalbank in der Altstadt von Bukarest lässt sich auch von au‎ßen bewundern — es ist eines der imposantesten Bauten der Neoklassik in der rumänischen Hauptstadt. Über seine Entstehung und die Gründung der Nationalbank gibt die Museographin Ruxandra Onofrei Auskunft:



    Die Nationalbank Rumäniens wurde im Jahr 1880 gegründet — übrigens als 16. Zentralbank eines Staates weltweit. Sie war somit eine entscheidende Institution, die zur Modernisierung des damals noch jungen rumänischen Staates beitrug. Die ersten 10 Jahre war die Nationalbank in einem anderen Gebäude untergebracht, doch 1882 wird ein Grundstück unter den Ruinen einer ehemaligen Karawanserei (Raststätte für Karawanen) erworben, wo später das heutige Gebäude errichtet werden sollte. Mit der Planung des Repräsentativbaus werden die in der Epoche recht gefragten französischen Architekten Cassien Bernard und Albert Galleron im Jahr 1884 beauftragt; sie entwerfen ein Gebäude, das Neoklassik mit eklektizistischen Elementen der französischen Architektur der Jahrhundertwende vereint. Unser Museum ist in einem der wichtigsten Säle des Bankgebäudes untergebracht, den wir den Marmorsaal nennen. Hier ist zurzeit eine temporäre Ausstellung untergebracht, die dem König Michael I. gewidmet ist. Die Nationalbank zieht 1890 in das neu errichtete Gebäude ein, und der Marmorsaal wurde damals Schaltersaal genannt, denn dafür wurde er ursprünglich konzipiert. Hier empfing man Kunden und man konnte Banküberweisungen veranlassen oder Ein- und Auszahlungen in Bargeld erwirken. Unter jeder Arkade des Saals befand sich ein Schalter mit dem entsprechenden Büro des Bankangestellten, und in der Mitte stand ein langer Tisch mit Stühlen, wo man sich setzen und standardisierte Formulare ausfüllen konnte. Der Saal hat auch eine besondere Akustik, das hei‎ßt, der Widerhall erfährt eine Schallbrechung, so dass ein Kunde nicht genau verstehen konnte, was am Schalter nebenan gesprochen wurde. In den Büros hinter den Schaltern hatte jeder Bankkassierer einen Tresor unter seiner Obhut, und in unserer ständigen Ausstellung sind alle zwölf Panzerschränke von damals zu sehen. Unsere Besucher können au‎ßerdem alte Münzen, Banknoten und andere interessante Wertgegenstände aus unserer Sammlung bewundern.“



    Was gibt es noch in der ständigen Ausstellung des Museums zu sehen? Die Museographin Ruxandra Onofrei zählt einige Highlights auf:



    Unsere ständige Ausstellung umfasst zunächst die wunderbar gestalteten Innenräume des Alten Bankpalastes selbst. Dort präsentieren wir eine Dokumentation über den historischen Umlauf von Münzen auf dem Gebiet des heutigen Rumänien; sie beginnt im 5 . Jh. v. Chr. mit den in der antiken Siedlung Histria geprägten Münzen, lässt die darauffolgenden Epochen Revue passieren und endet 1867, als ein eigenes rumänisches Währungssystem eingeführt wurde. In einem weiteren Saal dokumentieren wir die Geschichte des Leu, der nationalen Währung, vom Gründungsjahr 1867 bis zu den heutigen Münzen und Banknoten.“



    Im Marmorsaal ist aktuell eine temporäre Ausstellung zu sehen, die dem rumänischen König Michael I. gewidmet ist. Unter den Stichworten 100 Jahre seit der Geburt des Königs Michael I. (1921–2017)“ werden einzelne Stationen im Leben des Monarchen beleuchtet. Zum Schluss kommt erneut die Museographin Ruxandra Onofrei mit Einzelheiten zu Wort:



    Diese Ausstellung ist in Zusammenarbeit mit dem rumänischen Königshaus, dem Nationalen Archiv, dem Dorfmuseum »Dimitrie Gusti« und dem Museum für Militärgeschichte »Ferdinand I.« entstanden. Die Ausstellung ist dem 100. Jahrestag der Geburt des Souveräns gewidmet, wurde am 25. Oktober 2021 eingeweiht und läuft noch bis Ende Mai 2022. Unser Konzept war, wichtige Lebensabschnitte des letzten Monarchen Rumäniens zu dokumentieren, beginnend mit der Kindheit bis hin ins hohe Alter. Denn das Leben des Königs Michael I. überschneidet sich mit wichtigen Ereignissen der jüngsten Geschichte Rumäniens und ist daher eine Dokumentation wert. Darüber hinaus haben wir auch weniger konventionelle Artefakte in unserer Ausstellung — etwa die Geburtsurkunde des Monarchen, die zum ersten Mal öffentlich ausgestellt wird. Auch Fotos gehören dazu, die das Leben des Königs in gewöhnlichen Alltagssituationen zeigt, oder Klassenarbeiten aus seiner Schulzeit. Die Ausstellung endet mit der Jubiläumsprägung der Nationalbank zu diesem Anlass, darunter eine Goldmünze mit einem Nennwert von 500 Lei und einer Reinheit von 999,9.“