Radio România Internațional

Tag: night

  • May 19, 2024

    May 19, 2024

     

    OIL Romania’s crude oil output dropped 3.4% in the first quarter of 2024, while imports went down 15.1% compared to the corresponding period in 2023. According to the National Statistics Institute, in Q1 2024 Romania produced over 682,000 tonnes of equivalent oil less than in the corresponding period of 2023, while crude imports exceeded 1.7 mln toe. According to the National Strategy and Forecast Commission, Romania’s crude output will be on a downward trend until 2026, with an average annual drop of 2.2%, as a result of the natural decline in deposits. On the other hand, the Commission predicts an increase in crude imports by an annual 4.1%.

     

    MUSEUMS Around 250 cultural institutions in Romania were opened last night as part of the White Night of Museums, organized concurrently in several European countries. Taking part in the anniversary 20th edition of the event were museums, historic house museums, art galleries, creative studios, theatres, opera houses and philharmonic orchestras in over 70 towns and cities in Romania and several in neighbouring Moldova. Most participating venues were in the capital city Bucharest, and in Sibiu, a former European Capital of Culture in 2007, several museums and other institutions could also be visited free of charge. Exhibitions, interactive tours, performances, street events and concerts were organized on this occasion. The number of participating institutions was nonetheless smaller than usual, because of personnel protests over salary levels. On Saturday, hundreds of museum staff picketed the Ministry of Culture and the Government building. They say they feel abandoned by the government and demand a fair salary structure. PM Marcel Ciolacu has recently announced the culture ministry submitted proposals concerning museum staff pay raises. The finance ministry will analyse the proposals, the PM promised, and next week salary increases may be granted.

     

    NUCLEAR The Cernavodă nuclear power plant’s Unit 1 has been shut down for regular maintenance works today, Nuclearelectrica announced. The company promised the works will be safe for the power plant personnel, for citizens and for the environment. The Cernavodă nuclear power plant, the only one in Romania, has 2 operational units with an installed production capacity of 700 MW. The 2 reactors in Cernavoda cover around 20% of Romania’s energy consumption. The plant uses the Canadian technology CANDU 6 (Canadian Deuterium Uranium), using natural uranium as a fuel.

     

    REFUGEES The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) estimated on Saturday that 800,000 people have fled the clashes in Rafah since May 6, when the Israeli army launched land operations in this town in the south of Gaza, France Presse and Reuters report. According to the Agency director, Philippe Lazzarini, all these people were forced to leave their town without benefiting from safe passage or protection, and are heading for areas where water resources and hygiene conditions are poor. On the other hand, Austria announced it would resume financing for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, suspended following Israeli claims that Agency staff were involved in the Hamas attack on October 7, AFP writes. As a result of Israel’s accusations, around 15 states suspended their contributions to this UN agency. Many of them, including Germany, Sweden, Canada and Japan, have since resumed donations.

     

    TENNIS The Romanian tennis player Gabriela Ruse (aged 26, no. 148 WTA) failed to qualify for the Trophee Clarins tournament final in Paris. On Saturday she was defeated by Emma Navarro of the US (aged 22, no. 22 WTA), 6-0, 6-2. In the doubles competition, Monica Niculescu/Lin Zhu (Romania / China) were outperformed in the final by Asia Muhammad (USA)/Aldila Sutjiadi (Indonesia), 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 11-9. Other Romanian players taking part in the Paris tournament were Simona Halep (who retired in the second set of the match against McCartney Kessler of the US) and Ana Bogdan (who also retired in the match against the French Varvara Gracheva). (AMP)

  • May 12, 2023 UPDATE

    May 12, 2023 UPDATE

    GOVERNMENT The Government of Romania passed an emergency
    order on rebalancing the state budget, in a special meeting on Friday, the
    finance minister Adrian Câciu announced. He outlined the key measures in the plan, including a 10% reduction on
    expenditure with products and services, except for expenses in public
    healthcare and education, and a ban on procuring, leasing and rentals of automobiles
    and office equipment in public institutions. One exception is the car scrapping
    programme for the public authorities purchasing non-polluting vehicles. The
    programme is designed to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the transport
    sector, by encouraging the use of eco-friendly vehicles. The
    finance minister also announced that the number of advisers to officials in
    central administration structures, currently standing at around 900, will be
    reduced by one-half following the implementation of the emergency order aimed
    at making public spending more efficient.


    INFLATION In Romania,
    the year-on-year inflation rate dropped significantly in April, to 11.23% compared
    to nearly 15% in March. While this does not mean that products and services are
    growing cheaper, the rise in prices has nonetheless slowed down. According to
    data released by the National Statistics Institute on Friday, there are
    products that were more affordable in April than in March, including sunflower
    oil. Also on Friday, the National Bank confirmed that this downward trend in
    consumer price increase will continue. But the central bank governor Mugur
    Isărescu also warned those who have or are planning to take out loans in
    foreign currencies, and said that interest rates for the euro and US dollar
    will increase further. The National Bank forecasts a 7.1% inflation rate for
    the end of this year, as against 7% announced previously, and a 4.2% rate for
    the end of next year. Mugur Isărescu added that prices for fruit and vegetables
    will likely continue to go up for another 2 months, as the yield will be
    affected by the weather conditions in Europe, the drought in Spain and the
    aftermath of the earthquakes in Turkey.


    ENERGY The Polytechnic University in Bucharest officially launched
    the first NuScale Energy Exploration (E2) Centre outside the United States on
    Friday. The centre hosts a simulator of the NuScale Power’s VOYGR™ small
    modular reactor (SMR) power plant control room, and will educate and train the
    next generation of nuclear engineers to operate advanced civil nuclear reactor
    technologies while establishing Romania as a regional educational and training
    hub for the next stage of civil nuclear deployments across Romania and Europe,
    reads a news release issued by the US Embassy in Bucharest.


    MUSEUMS
    The National Network of Romanian Museums has announced an absolute record
    number of cultural events enlisted as part of the Night of Museums – 297 in
    Romania and 14 in the Republic of Moldova. Bucharest will host around 60 events
    proposed by museums, art galleries, cultural centres, opera houses, choirs,
    palaces, institutes, high schools and music festivals. The special guest of the
    current edition is the War Childhood Museum, for the first time in Romania. The
    exhibition, entitled Listen, is hosted by the Romanian Peasant Museum. Access
    is free of charge.


    AWARD – Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will receive the Franz
    Werfel Human Rights Award granted by the German Centre against Expulsions, DPA
    reports. Aged 63, Iohannis will become the 11th winner of this award, granted
    to him for his tireless and multilateral commitment to defending human rights
    and minority rights in Romania and Europe. The award, granted every two years,
    comes along with a money prize of 10,000 euros. Among the previous laureates
    are former German president Joachim Gauck, the winner of Nobel prize in
    Literature, Herta Muller and historian Karl Schlögel. The prize will be awarded
    during a ceremony held on June 4 in Frankfurt, Germany, when a congratulatory
    speech will delivered by former European Commission President Jean Claude
    Juncker.


    YOUTH Over 1,400 Romanian 18-year olds are among the 35,000 beneficiaries
    of free EU travel passes granted this year under the Discover EU programme. In
    order to find out more about the culture and history of the EU and to come in
    touch with people across the continent, the beneficiaries will be able to
    travel by train, individually or in groups of up to 5 people, between June 2023
    and September 2024. The current round of the programme saw more than 145,000 applicants
    from EU member states and Erasmus Plus countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein,
    Norway, North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey). (AMP)

  • May 13, 2022

    May 13, 2022


    AUTOMOBILES Starting today until the end of the month the second stage of a car-scrapping programme takes place in Romania, with the government providing substantial bonuses to people who buy new automobiles. The total budget is around EUR 60 million. The programme also covers the purchase of new electric or hybrid vehicles. The scrapping bonus is EUR 1,200 for petrol-powered car purchases and EUR 10,000 for EV purchases. According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, Romania is a European leader in promoting EV sales. In the first quarter of this year more than 2,000 electric cars were sold, accounting for a 400% increase since the corresponding period of 2021.



    INFLATION The Romanian Central Bank has updated its inflation forecast to 12.5% for end-2022 and to 6.7% for end-2023, governor Mugur Isarescu announced on Thursday. In February, the central bank estimated inflation would stand at 9.6% at the end of 2022 and at 3.2% at the end of 2023. According to the national bank, in the context of adverse developments related to the war in Ukraine, substantial reconfigurations of previous economic scenarios cannot be ruled out.



    CORRUPTION The former mayor of Bucharest Sorin Oprescu Friday received a final 10-year and 8-month prison sentence for bribe-taking, forming an organised crime group and abuse of office. Sorin Oprescu was caught taking EUR 25,000 and arrested on the night of September 6, 2015, during his second term in office as mayor of Bucharest. According to anti-corruption prosecutors, the group created by Oprescu had implemented a system at the City Hall through which businesses seeking contracts with public institutions had to pay a share of their profits in bribes.



    NATO The USA supports the NATO accession of Finland and Sweden, in spite of Moscows threat to retaliate over a new enlargement of the Alliance. NATO officials reminded Russia that this is a defensive alliance and that the decision of previously neutral countries to seek protection within the organisation has been prompted exclusively by Moscows aggression on Ukraine. The Russian foreign ministry said Finlands accession would severely affect bilateral relations and the stability and security of Northern Europe, forcing Russia to take counter-measures to offset possible threats to its national security. The Russian fleet in the Baltic Sea initiated manoeuvres to survey NATOs forces in the region on Thursday, the exact day when Finland announced its decision to join NATO. The accession may be announced officially in the Allies summit in Madrid this summer.



    UKRAINE The US accuses the Russian army of having forcibly transferred thousands of Ukrainians to Russia since the start of the war, often using “filtration camps”. Kyiv speaks about 1.2 million people deported so far. Meanwhile, Ukraines deputy PM Iryna Vereshchuk said on Thursday night that negotiations over the evacuation of troops from the Azovstal plant in Mariupol are ongoing, with Turkey brokering the talks. The first to be pulled out will be the severely wounded. The Ukrainian fighters in Azovstal plant reported that nearly 600 wounded soldiers are in the steel works, but their number goes up every day as a result of steady attacks. Russian forces continue to shell the east of Ukraine, but according to the British defence ministry they have so far failed to make significant progress.



    MUSEUMS The Night of Museums will be celebrated with over 200 cultural events on Saturday night in 87 towns and cities in Romania. More than 60 cultural sites and unconventional spaces will stay open in Bucharest in the largest such event since the pandemic. The Bucharest City Hall will be opened to visitors, with events showcasing the history and architecture of the palace hosting it. Some of the most popular tourist sites in Romania, such as Bran Castle, Peleş Castle and Făgăraş Citadel, have also prepared surprises for their guests. The European Night of Museums is an event that takes place across Europe.



    EUROVISION Romanias representative in the Eurovision song contest, WRS, Thursday night qualified into this years final of the European competition, with a song called “Llámame”. Romania had failed to qualify to the finals in the previous 3 editions of the competition. On Tuesday the band Zdob si Zdub and Advahov Brothers, representing the Republic of Moldova, also moved up into the finals hosted by the Italian city of Turin this Saturday night. (AMP)


  • Street Art at the White Night of Art Galleries

    Street Art at the White Night of Art Galleries

    The 13th edition of the White Night of Art Galleries has been held recently in several cities in Romania. Art galleries, museums, cultural institutes, alternative venues, creative hubs and artist workshops offered night-long contemporary art programmes in Bucharest and 13 other Romanian cities. Alba Iulia, Arad, Brasov, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, Iasi, Miercurea Ciuc, Petrila, Resita, Sfantu Gheorghe, Sibiu, Targu Mures and Timisoara were the hosts of special events as part of this festival.



    The White Night of Art Galleries gives the public an opportunity to discover contemporary art in all its diversity, from visual arts to performing arts, music and film, and in all its forms of presentation, from museum display to curatorial concepts or works displayed in artists studios.



    This year was the first time when the White Night of Art Galleries resulted in a permanent work of art: a project called Outside Histories, hosted by the Rezidenta BRD Scena 9 cultural venue in Bucharest. For this project, the artists Alexandru Ciubotariu, aka Pisica Patrata (the Romanian for “the Square Cat), Robert Obert, Maria Balan and John Dot S painted live the walls of the venue. Bizarre scenes inspired from the Aztec culture, blended with Byzantine-inspired decorations, surround the yard of this building, which is an item of architectural heritage.



    The building dates back to 1890, it belonged to King Michael, and was originally a gift from King Ferdinand to his wife, Queen Marie of Romania. The royal estate was later on turned into the headquarters of a public institution, then it hosted a Mexican restaurant, to be turned recently into a contemporary cultural centre, and it carries the marks of all the purposes it served during its long history.



    Alexandru Ciubotariu, aka Pisica Patrata, is one of the most highly appreciated illustrators and street artists in Romania, and the founder of a Museum of Comic Books. We talked to him while he was painting live, on the night of the exhibition opening, and he told us what he was working on:



    Pisica Patrata: “I am working on a tridimensional piece, which is somewhat new in my area of interest. What I am trying to convey is roughly unchanged, the only difference is that I am now trying to transfer these things into a tridimensional area. But for the time being its just work in progress.



    One of the projects is called “Un-hidden, and Pisica Patrata told us a few words about it as well:


    Pisica Patrata: “There are actually 2 exhibitions combined. One of them is a personal exhibition, I called it ‘+Plus, but apart from the mural paintings in the city, which more people seem to be familiar with, I am also trying to include the preliminary drafts, the details drawn on canvas, a tridimensional area, and even a few comic strips, so as to give viewers a broader image of my interests.



    Street artists were the stars of this years edition of the White Night of Art Galleries, Pisica Patrata told us:



    Pisica Patrata: “This is a support exhibition for a project intended to map all things street-art in Bucharest at first, and across the country later on. It is basically an interactive map, which can be accessed by anybody, and where people can find every work of street art in Romania. The map is updated almost the same moment when an artist finishes a piece of work, so essentially the items in the exhibition are the reflection of the works you can find in public areas in the country.



    Pisica Patrata also told us about the extent to which street art has caught on in Romania:



    Pisica Patrata: “I think in the recent period quite major works in this field have been completed, and the general impression is that people are beginning to understand the differences between graffiti, street art and street installations. And this makes street art easier to understand and to accept. I believe we can safely say now that lately street art has become more palatable.



    And because the Pisica Patrata exhibition was hosted by Imbold Gallery, which specializes in the reconstruction of the communist era, we invited the artist to explain this association:



    Pisica Patrata: “It was their suggestion to begin with. I had worked with them extensively, and they insisted that we should put up this exhibition. I agreed, but on condition that I did what I try to do in every exhibition, namely to create a new artwork in each area or venue where I work. This is how this tridimensional item that you found me working on came to be. We still have a few walls left to paint, weather permitting, and several comic strips, four of which are scheduled for release almost simultaneously. The publishers are Casa Radio, where Ive also been coordinating a collection devoted to children, called Radio Prichindel, which I am very fond of. So probably at the Gaudeamus book fair in November we will have 4 new volumes.



    As the artist told us, “comic books are my first love, so Ill continue to put pen to paper and draw all the characters that live in my imagination.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • May 19, 2018 UPDATE

    May 19, 2018 UPDATE

    DEFENCE – Romania has met all its commitments to NATO, the Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor said on Saturday. He added that the US President Donald Trumps request for the other Allied countries to also earmark 2% of their GDP to defence is justified. This is the second consecutive year when Romania allots these funds to defence, Fifor explained. He also mentioned that nearly 700 Romanian troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan, and the major Army equipment upgrade projects undertaken by Romania upon joining NATO are reaching their final stages.




    MUSEUMS – Scores of Romanian museum employees Saturday protested in front of the Ministry of Culture and National Identity headquarters. They say salaries do not reflect the importance, responsibility and complexity of their work, and some of them have lost incomes since the implementation of the unified pay scheme for public sector employees and the transfer of social security payments from employers to employees. The Culture Ministry announced in a news release that several meetings have been held recently with trade unions in the sector, and solutions to their problems are being searched for. The protests came ahead of the 14th edition of the famous Long Night of Museums, in which 180 museums and partner organisations in Romania are taking part. In Bucharest, taking part in the event are the National Art Museum of Romania, the National History Museum, the George Enescu National Museum, the Grigore Antipa Natural History Museum, and the Romanian Peasant Museum. Exhibitions, concerts and film screenings have been put together, for all ages and for all tastes.





    ROYAL WEDDING – The historical city of Windsor, near London, Saturday hosted the wedding of Price Harry of Wales, grandson to Queen Elizabeth II of the UK, with his fiancée, the 36 year old American actress Meghan Markle. The official ceremony combined the elegance of the royal protocol with the glamour of Hollywood events. Thousands of people gathered on Saturday morning in the usually quiet town, to celebrate the princely couple. Buckingham Palace previously announced that Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain granted Prince Harry and Meghan Markle the title of Duke and Duchess of Sussex.




    DIASPORA – The second regional consular meeting in the campaign entitled “2018 Dialogue with the Diaspora on consular topics ended in Rome on Saturday. According to a news release issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, taking part in the event were representatives of the Romanian diplomatic missions and consular offices in Italy, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Switzerland, Montenegro and Israel. Talks focused on topics related to consular activities, particularly the handling of the situations that require the activation of the Foreign Ministry Crisis Response Task Force, as well as the use of the IT systems that are part of the E-Cons integrated platform, which currently services the entire consular network of the Romanian Foreign Ministry.




    CHISINAU – The Republic of Moldova Sunday holds the first round of early elections for the mayors of capital city Chisinau and the second-largest Moldovan town of Balti, in the north. The posts have been vacant since the resignation of the mayors elected in June 2015, namely the pro-European Liberal Dorin Chirtoaca in Chisinau and the pro-Russian populist Renato Usatii in Balti. Both officials claimed the trials were political shams. These early elections are seen as a test for this autumns parliamentary election. Analysts quoted by Radio Romania correspondents, say Sundays vote for a new mayor of Chisinau, where one-third of the countrys population lives and which generates half of Moldovas GDP, is also important in geo-political terms, given the competition between pro-Russian and pro-European politicians in this country.




    FUNERALS – The funerals of the great Romanian film director Lucian Pintilie were held in Bucharest on Saturday. Pintilie died on Wednesday at the age of 84. His staging of the Inspector General (1972), as well as his films The Reconstruction and For Whom the Bell Tolls, Mitică, were banned by the communist censorship. In 1973, he left for Paris, where he continued his career. After the fall of communism, he returned to Romania and made a series of films, mostly Romanian-French co-productions, one of which, “Too Late (1996), was included in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival.




    CONFERENCE – Former East-European political leaders pleaded in Bucharest on Saturday for dialogue as a means to promote security in the Korean Peninsula. Chairing the meeting designed to support a peaceful reunification of Korea, Emil Constantinescu, president of Romania in 1996-2000, emphasised the importance of cultural diplomacy between the 2 countries. The ex-president of Albania, Rexhep Meidani, believes recent developments to be encouraging, including the prospective meeting of the US President Donald Trump with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un. Also attending the conference in Bucharest are, among others, the former presidents of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, of Belarus, Stanislav Shushkevich, and of Croatia, Stjepan Mesic.




    HANDBALL – The Romanian mens handball team AHC Potaissa of Turda (in north-western Romania) Sunday faces the Greek side AEK Athens, away from home, in the decisive leg of the Challenge Cup final. On Monday, the Romanians won the first leg, at home, 33-22. According to commentators, Potaissa, which last year lost the final of the same competition to Sporting Lisbon, is a step away from winning the trophy. At the end of last week, the Romanian womens team SCM Craiova won the EHF Cup final, defeating the Norwegian side Vipers Kristiansand, while Romanian champions, CSM Bucharest, won the bronze in the so-called Champions League Final Four in Budapest.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • May 19, 2018

    May 19, 2018

    MUSEUMS – Museums across Europe, including in Romania, are open tonight for visitors to take part in a new edition of the Long Night of Museums. In Romania, 180 museums and partner organisations in the country and in the capital city Bucharest are taking part in this 14th edition. In Bucharest, taking part in the event are the National Art Museum of Romania, the National History Museum, the George Enescu National Museum, the Grigore Antipa Natural History Museum, and the Romanian Peasant Museum. Exhibitions, concerts and film screenings have been put together, for all ages and for all tastes. The 2018 edition also includes projects aimed at a more user-friendly experience, providing digital museum routes that may be explored free of charge. The European Night of Museums series was initiated by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.




    ROYAL WEDDING – Thousands of people gathered on Saturday morning in the historical city of Windsor, near London, to celebrate the wedding of Price Harry of Wales, grandson to Queen Elizabeth II of the UK, with his fiancée, the 36 year old American actress Meghan Markle. The official ceremony will combine the elegance of the royal protocol with the glamour of Hollywood events. The religious ceremony will be hosted by St. Georges Chapel at Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest royal estate in the world, constantly inhabited over the centuries. Receptions will then be held, at St. Georges Hall, Windsor Castle at noon and at the nearby Frogmore House in the evening.




    DIASPORA – The second regional consular meeting in the campaign entitled “2018 Dialogue with the Diaspora on consular topics ends today in Rome. According to a news release issued by the Romanian Foreign Ministry in Bucharest, taking part in the event are representatives of the Romanian diplomatic missions and consular offices in Italy, Spain, Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, the Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Switzerland, Montenegro and Israel. Talks focused on topics related to consular activities, particularly the handling of the situations that require the activation of the Foreign Ministry Crisis Response Task Force, as well as the use of the IT systems that are part of the E-Cons integrated platform, which currently services the entire consular network of the Romanian Foreign Ministry.




    MOLDOVA – The European Commissioner for Regional Policy Corina Creţu, who is on an official visit to Chisinau, has travelled today to Ungheni, designated one of the 2018 European Villages. The locals found out from the EU official about the support the bloc has given to the Rep. of Moldova, particularly through EU-funded projects implemented in their region. Yesterday in Chisinau, Corina Cretu said the EU wants to remain a strong partner for the development of the ex-Soviet Republic of Moldova. The statement came after her meeting with PM Pavel Filip. The European official also said that it is important for Moldova to focus on implementing reform in key sectors like economic development, the business environment, energy and justice. In turn, PM Filip reiterated that the goal of the Government of Modova is the European accession of this ex-Soviet republic.




    PLANE CRASH – More than 100 people died in Fridays Boeing 737 crash in Cuba, while 3 survivors are in critical condition in hospital. The aircraft was on a domestic route to the east of Cuba, and it crashed shortly after taking off in Havana. A total of 110 people were on board, including 6 members of the crew, the Cuban authorities announced. Two days of national mourning were declared. The causes of the tragedy are yet to be established.




    TENNIS – The Romanian tennis player Simona Halep, number 1 in the world, is playing today against the Russian Maria Sharapova (31, no 40 WTA), in the semi-finals of the WTA tournament in Rome, which has 2.7 million euros in total prize money. Yesterday in the quarter-finals Halep (26) defeated Caroline Garcia of France (7 WTA), while Sharapova beat the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko. Halep has lost 7 direct matches against Sharapova and won only one, last year in Beijing. In last years tournament in Rome, Halep lost the final. Simona Halep will stay as leader of the world standings next week as well. Also today in Rome, the pair Sorana Cîrstea (Romania) – Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) are playing the semi-finals of the doubles competition against Ashleigh Barty (Australia) – Demi Schuurs (the Netherlands).


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)

  • 2017 European Night of Museums

    2017 European Night of Museums

    The 2017 edition of the European Night of Museums hit a new record – a total of 212 institutions from Romania enrolled for the event, while tens of thousands of people went on Saturday night to visit cultural venues free of charge. 54 museums and cultural organizations played host to guided tours, exhibitions, theatre plays, concerts, discussion panels or book launches. One of the most sought-after destinations on this occasion was the “Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History and the Geology Museum in Bucharest. Here visitors, which were mostly young people or families with children, could visit the exhibition “Night of the Dinosaurs – A Night of Magic, with replicas of dinosaurs and a quartz skull weighing over 30 kilos, the only one of its kind in Europe.



    The Romanian Academy, in cooperation with the Legacy of Tomorrow Cultural Association exhibited one of Constantin Brancusis few sculptures currently on Romanian soil, “Childs Head, at the Museum of Old Western Art. The Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest also played host to jazz and classical music concerts. Astronomy enthusiasts could visit the freshly renovated Astronomy Observatory.



    The Filipescu-Cesianu House this year opened the doors of its Age Museum, the first urban anthropology museum in the country, inaugurated last year. Innovative exhibitions, such as Leonard da Vincis machines, the Bucharest Art Gallery, an inter-war project, the living statues of Masca Theatre exhilarated visitors of the “Theodor Aman Museum, the Sutu Palace, the Filipescu-Cesianu House or the “Nicolae Minovici Museum.



    At the Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu, the library and the wonder rooms were opened to the public, despite currently being in their design phase. The two sectors will become part of the full tour starting the second half of the year. Also taking part in the Night of Museums was the open-air museum in Dumbrava Sibiului, the largest of its kind in Romania, spreading over 100 hectares.



    In 2017, the Night of Museums was preceded by a protest of museum employees, the first ever staged in post-communist Romania. Protesters rallied in front of the National History Museum in Bucharest and then before the Ministry of Culture building. Museum employees say they have been overlooked by the latest salary increases, while the current salary bill further discriminates against them and puts them in an unfair position. Unless their demands are met, employees say they will take their protest to the next level, which may include an all-out strike.



    Having reached its 13th edition, the European Night of Museums enjoys a growing success from one year to the next at international level. Over 3,000 museums from all over Europe, as well as many art galleries, schools and cultural venues, took part in the event.


    (translated by: Vlad Palcu)