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Tag: project

  • Solve for Tomorrow

    Solve for Tomorrow

    Attention-grabbing, as of late, has been Solve for Tomorrow, a competition
    focusing on involvement, determination, education responsibility, but also on the
    future high school students from across Romania, youngsters aged 16 to 18, try
    to build today, from one idea to the next. The competition has now reached its
    third edition, so it does have a tradition of its own, reason enough for us to speak
    with the representatives of the winning teams in 2022.


    Two high-school students with Bucharest’s Tudor Vianu National
    College, Cosmina Ene and Sânziana Grecu of the SurvEco team, 3rd placed
    at the end of the 3rd edition of the Solve for Tomorrow in 2022 told
    us the following.


    Cosmina Ene:

    We’re members of SurvEco, a team that came in 3rd
    as part of the 2nd edition of Solve for Tomorrow. Our project
    consisted in an autonomous drone using Artificial Intelligence, which overflies
    Bucharest and its outskirts, with the purpose of detecting illegal waste and
    its burning, because pollution in Bucharest is mainly caused by such illegal waste
    deposits.

    Sânziana Grecu:

    For us, the competition translated into a personal development
    process and opened up many paths for us, because we met people with whom we
    collaborated and to whom we wouldn’t have had access, normally.

    Cosmina Ene:

    We recommend all pupils who
    want to have fantastic experience ant who want to surpass themselves to
    participate in this year’s edition of the competition.


    The Solve for Tomorrow national competition organized by Samsung
    Electronics Romania in partnership with Junior Achievement Romania designated
    its winners based on the marks given by an interdisciplinary judging panel.


    Spacemind Kingdom, the team that came in 2nd , is made of
    three girls coordinated by a teacher with of the Jacques M. Elias Techological
    High School in Sascut, Aurelia Dascalu. Here is what one of the pupils, Andreea, told us.

    As part of the Solve for Tomorrow’s previous
    edition we won the 2nd prize with an educational application
    dedicated to women teenagers. We created a game by means of which they can
    develop their abilities and knowledge about the STEM system. Apart from this
    game, we also had a section enabling the girls to speak to personalities that
    had a strong bearing on these areas, through Artificial Intelligence. We started
    off from the idea that we need to encourage teenagers to encourage to work in
    this field despite the stereotypes that have been created. The competition
    helped us learn about design thinking, a concept that enabled us to develop the
    idea we started from, to a greater extent, we managed to discover ourselves, we
    developed new abilities, but, over and above anything else, we opened new
    horizons towards technology and towards what we really want to become.


    The 1st Prize went to The Green Team of the Eudoxiu
    Hurmuzachi National College in Rădăuți. The team developed the prototype of a
    hydroponic farming system that enables the cultivation of plants in a nutrients
    bed and an addition of vegetable oil that slow down water evaluation.

    Here is team leader Cosmin:


    Our purpose is that, in the future, we
    should practice farming according to hydroponic systems on an industrial scale.
    We still study the domain, one prototype after the next, but the way seems promising.
    We wouldn’t have reached this point had we not participated in the Solve for
    Tomorrow competition. As part of the competition, we met entrepreneurs of
    various walks of life who offered us their pieces of advice and guided us and we
    participated in design-thinking sessions. We recommend each and every youngster
    who has an idea to participate.


    Head of Communications Samsung Romania, Sabina Ştirb, told us the
    following:

    Solve for Tomorrow is a project Samsung
    Electronics Romania holds most dear, its third edition is launched today. It
    has collected more than 600 projects so far, from all over the country. Also,
    there is the global version of the Solve for Tomorrow, a project that took off
    13 years ago and in which 1.8 million pupils got involved, globally. Yet, apart
    from those figures, we mainly celebrate today are by all means pupils and
    teachers, mentors who work with the ideas that were registered for the
    competition.


    Here is what Junior Achievement Romania Educational director, Loredana Poenaru,
    told us:


    It is a project
    that dares pupils to put together their technology, education and creativity,
    so that they can develop solutions for the problems in communities, be they environment-related
    issues or educational circumstances that can be improved., education-wise, as regards
    long-lasting development, all these are domains children can consider if they
    want to develop their ideas. We’re now in the third edition. So far, we’ve had
    600 ideas that were registered in the previous editions, for each edition the
    second stage means selecting 25 of the best ideas that have been going through
    a development process, with design thinking underlying it, at once enabling
    youngsters to develop their ideas up to the stage of prototype, and further inviting
    them to consider the possibility of implementing those ideas. Apart from design thinking they get in touch with entrepreneurs,
    they can also learn how to give their ideas an entrepreneurial direction, they
    go through mentoring sessions and that is how things thus reach a feasible
    stage. At the end of the competition youngsters are attached to the projects they
    have been working on for so many months, so in the ensuing phases they should develop
    the need to take their projects further, to the implementation stage.


    The third edition of Solve for Tomorrow has kicked off already!

  • Art Encounters

    Art Encounters


    The western Romanian city of Timisoara in May this year saw the 5th edition being opened, of the Art Encounters Biennale. Themed My Rhyno is not a Myth, the Biennale was mounted as part of the cultural programme known as Timisoara 2023: the European Capital of Culture. The current edition is dedicated to the crossroads between art science and fiction, exploring their potential to retrieve reality as a network of complex processes, The Biennale is held in 15 unusual spaces in Timisoara, activating 23 dedicated areas through events, performance, projections and conferences. Attending the Art Encounters Biennale are more than 60 artists of 20 countries.



    At the inauguration of the Biennale, Eugen Cojocariu sat down and spoke to the president of the “Art Encounters” Foundation, Ovidiu Sandor, an entrepreneur from Timisoara and one of the best-known collectors of contemporary art.



    “Were speaking about the 5th edition of the “Art Encounters” Biennale, a project initiated by the “Art Encounters” Foundation as early as 2015, a project which seeks to support, first and foremost, Romanias contemporary art stage, specifically, through the support mostly offered to some of the young artists so they can create works for the Biennale proper, but mainly through the creation of this framework where Romanian contemporary art, Eastern Europes contemporary art initiate a direct dialogue with international art. A set of events which, apart from the all too familiar exhibitions, includes conferences and performances as well, quite an eventful mediation program and suchlike. Romania, also regarding contemporary art, just like in many other areas of culture, boasts several very talented and creative artists, yet these artists need as many organized contexts as possible, so they can exhibit, where they can be visible, where they can have a dialogue with international artists, where they can initiate a dialogue with curators, collectors, with contemporary art institutions, at home and abroad. And thats what we have been trying to do, create such a platform for contemporary art dialogue.”



    Ovidiu Șandor gave us details on the curatorial team, and about the artists selection procedure:



    “Just like in the previous editions, we have invited a curator, for this years edition we had Adrian Notz of Switzerland, who in turn suggested that we invite a team of young women curators, who, in fact, were, between inverted commas, his students at the curatorial school we also organized two years ago. Just like in all the other editions of the Biennale, it is a process by means of which we encourage the curator or the curators to explore the region, Romania and the surrounding countries, in visits where we try to get them meet young artists, historian artists, so they can better understand what happens from the standpoint of contemporary art in this region, so much so that their selection should also reflect the effervescence and diversity of the artistic positions in the region. It is a process that, now that is has seen its 5th edition, it somehow comes along naturally and has bene developing better and better. It is a process requiring a lot of time, it requires a lot of effort. It is a large team, that which stands behind a biennale, from, yes, curators to artists, to the people who are into the production side, people who deal with the installations of the exhibitions, the whole team of mediators, people who provide the communication side, people who sort out the entire financial and legal side and suchlike. We believe that, also the development of these people and the experience all of us have acquired in each edition, that is also something important. Romania needs more cultural managers, it needs a cultural manager with as much experience as possible, as culture cannot be produced, it needs to be shown, it needs media coverage, it needs to be promoted. We in turn have also been trying to have our own contribution to that kind of thing. “



    But what is the concept of the “Art Encounters” Biennale 2023? What is the message conveyed to the lay public? Speaking about that, here is Ovidiu Sandor once again.



    ” Art, science, fiction, that seems to me a very updated theme. In effect, art and science come up with two different systems of viewing the world, of viewing the problems of the world, of viewing our potential future. And we think that, perhaps, this divide between art and science a divide that emerged a couple of hundreds of years ago, that, perhaps, is nevertheless artificial and in fact the way artists view the world, the way scientists view the world, these are complementary ways of making sense of the issues that concern us. I think were all aware of the fact that technology plays an increasingly important part in our lives, with the good and the bad points that go with technology. It is something artists highlighted. I think Artificial Intelligence today is on everybodys lips and it also a preoccupation. So I think it is a Biennale which is bound to be interesting, not only for the regular contemporary art public but also for a much wider audience.



    Diana Marincu is the artistic director of “Art Encounters. ” Here she is, giving us more details on the participating artists and about how art ties in with science at the “Art Encounters” Biennale 2023:



    “It is, in fact, a puzzle, between artists, between various institutions and it is crucial that this constellation of partners joins us with each edition, it becomes larger and there is a growing interest for contemporary art in Timisoara. There also is an extremely varied selection this year. We have artists with works created in various modes of expression, from installation, painting, sculpture, photography, video. It is, indeed, a complex Biennale. Guest curator Adrian Notz thought of some sort of combination between art and technology, also between art and science, in a bid to offer this message to the public as, in fact, these domains always offer models of mutual understanding, or knowledge, of transcribing reality, and that is never something separate. Art has always been connected to other domains in daily life as well. It is a Biennale where we can see many artists experimenting with state-of-the-art technologies and with the most original concepts, yet we also have historian artists who come up with a perspective which, in hindsight, can be revisited…I think it is crucial that we snap out of the confines of our field and try to connect with those whose knowledge is different from the visual knowledge but which is equally interesting. “




  • The virtual learning lab and other stories

    The virtual learning lab and other stories

    Over the past two years, life switched to
    the online mode. So it comes as no surprise that even dance had to learn to
    exist online, although it seems counter-intuitive. Today we look at a
    one-of-a-kind project, a strategic partnership in the area of professional
    training and vocational education, co-financed under the EU’s Erasmus+ programme:
    Teachers for SwanZ. A project initiated by the Floria Capsali Choreography
    High School in Bucharest, jointly with the Prof. Vesselin Stoyanov National
    Art School in Ruse, Bulgaria, the Attitude Company in Vienna, Austria and the
    Greek Union in Romania.




    The project was launched on December 1, 2020, and
    it targeted the so-called Generation Z. Alina Munteanu, a psychologist with the
    Choreography High School and the Dinu Lipatti Music High School, gave us more
    details:




    Alina Munteanu: Generation Z comprises
    children born between 1996 and 2010. They are a little special, in that they
    were born across a millennium and as such they share some of the features of
    Gen X, they adjust easily to working on devices, and are very good at
    multi-tasking. For instance, our students do their homework and at the same
    time they listen to music, send messages on tiktok, like and share online
    stories. It is fascinating to see these kids speak English so well, express the
    Romanian culture through dancing, their willingness to get to know the Greek,
    Bulgarian and Austrian cultures and to promote the Romanian culture around the
    world. It has been a fascinating experience, and I believe it is a new
    beginning for a choreography high school.




    Denitsa Krastanova, deputy head of the Prof.
    Vesselin Stoyanov National Art School in Ruse, also spoke about her school’s
    participation in the project:




    Denitsa Krastanova: To start with a brief presentation of our school-we provide
    general primary and secondary education as well as vocational art education in areas
    like musical instruments, classical singing, traditional folk singing, pop and
    jazz singing, classical dance, Bulgarian folk dance, fine arts, advertising
    design and drama. As a vocational school, we were delighted to accept the Floria
    Capsali Choreography High School’s invitation to join the project Teachers for
    SwanZ under Erasmus+, for a number of reasons. After we looked at the goals and
    the essence of the project, we assessed its long-term benefits and its positive
    impact. Teachers for SwanZ was an alternative way to improve professional
    skills, a know-how exchange and a means to encourage creativity in teaching
    dancing and social skills.




    Laura Cristinoiu, a ballet teacher and the head
    of the Attitude Ballet Studios in Vienna, looked back on the project after its
    completion:




    Laura Cristinoiu: I am very glad to look back
    at these two years of work, one of them online, which is rather odd for a dance
    project. We are talking about dance, about ballet teachers, about teaching
    classical, folk and modern dance. I am very happy with the 3 outputs of the
    project, namely a ballet guideline for teachers of other subjects in public
    high schools, a dance handbook for teachers of classical dance in private and
    public dance schools, and, our greatest achievement, the online platform teachersforswanz.eu,
    where one can access all our workshops and everything we did during these two
    years. More importantly, this platform is a means of certification from this
    project for future dance teachers.




    Diana Zăvălaș, a piano teacher with the Floria
    Capsali Choreography High School and the project coordinator, told us why this
    project was necessary:




    Diana Zăvălaș: Teachers only have access to
    obsolete methods, there are no life-long education programmes for dance
    teachers, and we set out to help them in this respect and also to provide some
    communication, networking, intercultural dialogue and coaching workshops, so
    that they may improve their relations with their students, their co-workers,
    and the parents. We applied for funding under Erasmus Plus and we found 3 other
    partners who wanted the same things, namely to improve teaching methodologies
    and help develop teachers’ skills. Becoming familiar with other cultures and
    other types of methods is important, and such an international experience is
    quite enriching.




    Apart from the specialised beneficiaries, Teachers
    for SwanZ and the Virtual learning lab also address dance lovers in general,
    and those who would like to learn and specialise in various types of dance,
    from classical ballet to folk dance and to contemporary dance. (AMP)

  • Large-scale construction works and their impact on Romania’s still unspoiled traditional culture

    Large-scale construction works and their impact on Romania’s still unspoiled traditional culture

    A lot has been built in Romania in the more than 30
    years that have passed since the outbreak of the anti-communist Revolution. However,
    and more often than not, construction works were carried chaotically, at once being
    blatantly misplaced, as tall apartment blocks were built in private residence
    districts, new constructions cropped up nearby listed, historical buildings, or
    shapes and colours, randomly chosen, simply took hold of the architecture of an
    area. The disorder caused by all that is simply exhausting. Whether we speak
    about the urban areas or the rural regions, the architectural chaos has mainly been
    generated by the lack of a clear-cut system of standards in the construction
    sector. Not to mentioned the fact that the authorities in right turned a blind
    eye on the serious abnormalities perpetrated on the ground.


    That being said, we invite you to meet the initiators of
    the project themed Upstream Topolog river, Cristina and Paul Budan. For one
    year running, the project’s stated aim was to undertake a study period, prior
    to preservation, of the vernacular architecture of the southern part of Arges
    County’s Topolog river’s upstream segment.


    Why? Because a highway is soon to cross the region. Notwithstanding,
    the Budan family would like that, at least for that particular segment, the good
    points of the technical progress should not have a negative impact on the
    specificity of the area. And, if that may not also be possible, at least the locals’
    centuries-old way of life should be registered for posterity.


    Cristina Budan is a teaching assistant with the
    Faculty of Architecture as part of the Bucharest-based Ion Mincu University.
    She has been explaining what the Upstream Topolog River project actually meant:


    ʺThe project sought to map the entire upper
    part of the Topolog river valley, in a bid to see what could be preserved of
    that traditional architecture and attempt to carry a documentation of the valley,
    to keep as much info as possible on that particular type of architecture, given
    that a highway segment will cross the area. The Cornetu-Tigveni segment will
    cut through the valley, and everything will change, most likely, as soon as
    that happens. As we speak, the valley is rather quiet, as there is no major roadway
    to cross it so it has been preserved in a very good condition, traditional architecture
    was easy to preserve in the area as well. Infrastructure changes will surely alter
    the structure of the villages, the development of the region, therefore it will
    also have its impact on the built heritage.


    What experiences, what revelations did the volunteers
    have, who worked in large numbers for the mapping of the upper part of Topolog
    River Valley?

    Cristina Budan once again.


    ʺAs I’ve said before, there
    is no major road to cross the valley, to cut it through, so it has its own
    peace and quiet, it does have its autonomy. What’s most interesting is that it functions
    as a whole, it is closely-knit and living in that valley is something beautiful,
    it is intertwined, since the locals there are owners of the house, the pasture,
    the meadow land and through their daily activities, they somehow keep the place
    together. That’s what we first liked very much about it! Then there are lots of
    hypostases of the valley. The roads are spectacular, especially when you start losing
    yourself in the lateral hills, the experience is very beautiful, that of
    crossing the valley and how you get to reach those houses. And we found very
    beautiful houses, they were hard to include into categories, we even had our difficulties
    trying to trace several clear-cut typologies, since they are so varied in terms
    of expression, so that was really difficult. We ran into very beautiful, porch houses,
    of that classic typology we all associate with traditional architecture, but we
    also ran into walled houses with very elaborate plastering, with very refined, complex
    roofs…well, it’s all about a very rich expression we don’t seem to pay heed to,
    unfortunately. It is very important for us to keep a database of all we have
    now and the way the valley functions, together with those houses, which are
    expressions of the place, after all. And we were also interested in creating a
    database with the various expressions of those houses, what shapes those houses
    can take, so that we can see howe much variety is, in fact, in the local
    architecture.


    For Paul
    Budan, The Upstream Topolog river project has, apart from its practical importance, a psychological importance as well. A Bucharest city-dweller as he may be,
    Paul Budan has its family roots in that valley. He spends his summers there, actually, and it is not at all indifferent to
    him how the area will look like, after the highway will have been built.


    ʺIt is hard to imagine such a
    transformation. In a couple of years’ time the valley will most likely be a huge
    construction site, but, when the highway is completed, and if possible, with
    the help of the authorities, it will develop harmoniously, we hope, ideally
    speaking, also taking into account the specialists’ opinion…maybe the reconditioning
    of the river banks, maybe the reconstruction of certain pathways, of certain little
    bridges, maybe the proposal of several local constructions, that also including
    buildings which can be put to good use for the highway – parking areas, hotels,
    guesthouses – which somehow can preserve the architectural specificity, at once
    preserving a coherence of the valley. With the help pf the project, we believe
    we could open a dialogue or we can bring together the local authorities and the
    high-level ones, so that a dialogue proper can be initiated to that end, and
    together, they can build the valley harmoniously, naturally. We hope we could
    influence that valley for the better or have a beneficial intervention in that
    process of change.


    That outcome would be an ideal one, by all means. But
    if that may not be the case, unfortunately, the outcome of Cristina and Paul
    Budan’s initiative will be an exceptional work, where joining the two were also
    in the Architects’ Order in Romania, the Village Museum in Bucharest, the Vine
    and Tree Growing Museum in Golesti, Arges County, but also specialists in
    history, sociology, geography, landscaping or volunteer workers, mostly
    student-architects, but also architects who are on the job already. The results
    of their works can be visited at petopologinsus.ro, on the project’s Facebook
    page, but mainly in a book of an exceptional quality, content and design-wise,
    a book which is always impressive in terms of size.


    We’re well aware of the fact that
    modernization is something necessary, we all want that to happen and the infrastructure
    projects are necessary, we all know that. In a separate move, the way things are
    being done matters a lot. First of all, the infrastructure project needs to be implemented
    there with utmost care so that it should not dent the future development of the
    region. What we do hope for, though, is for the project to come up with that promised
    well-being and not take more than it could offer, from that particular place..
    These were the final words of Cristina Brudan, a teaching assistant with the Faculty
    of Architecture in Bucharest. We all want progress, but that should not happen
    at all costs.


    (EN)

  • Modern Art in today’s Romania

    Modern Art in today’s Romania


    What would a world look like, where contemporary art works could be purchased from the automatic machine placed in a subway station, in the office buildings hallway, or in a mall ? We can have a glimpse of that discovering Art machine, a project carried by the three contemporary artists, members of the Pink Pill group. It is a project encouraging the sound art consumption through the artists direct contact with the lay public, through an automatic machine with works of art. About what exactly the project is about, we sat down and talked to visual artist Alexandru Claudiu Maxim:



    “Art Machine is an art vending machine where you can find limited series of 100 small works created by artists. The works are original, they are handmade. It is genuine art. The dimensions are those of a calling card and for the sum of 10 lei, around 2 Euros, you can purchase a work from the artists you like or whom you want to discover. It is also a curatorial concept meant to set up a connection between contemporary artists and a public that is interested in getting to know the domain. It also works as a subjective catalogue, which we present and say: in our opinion, thats what is worth buying, as we speak. And there is also a game to be played, that of collecting miniature art, a game we consider necessary to develop a variety of ways to consume art. It can be found in the bookshop of mall in Bucharest. “



    What is the projects curatorial vision? How are ideas chosen, or the works and the artists who end up in the contemporary art automatic vending machine? Alexandru Claudiu Maxim once again:



    “The overall curatorial vision, as we speak, is provided by Marian Codrea, himself a visual artist and a sculptor. As for the other Pink Pill, members, that is Beaver and myself, we also contribute suggestions, but for their most part, its with him the discussions with artists are initiated. What I can say, though, is that were searching for daring, original artists, with a peculiar style, or proposals that tie in perfectly fine with the idea of a vending machine and miniature works. There were cases when we were searched on the Instagram by the very people who even now do not see themselves as artists, but who had very good ideas and some of them even ended up in the machine. Such an idea was Syd Buzoianus, who during the lockdown came up with the suggestion that we make a plain tickets collection whose destination were not only todays places alone, it also went way back, in the past, in certain cultural ages, but also in the future, to other planets, to states of happiness, ecstasy or to films. We grew mighty fond of that concept and we accepted it, for its originality. “



    We live in a world imbued with the social media, materialism, products, consumerism. Could it be feasible, that particular mix of the essence of consumerism (the automatic machine) and art in its own right, as an expression of cultural and moral values?



    Alexandru Claudiu Maxim:



    “In todays consumerism, I would include the project as a sound alternative regarding the consumption of art. It is a project enabling people to get access to original art, and not to copies that oversaturate already. Even though Art machine makes use of the consumerists presentation, its all about that particular kind of materialism in the sense of love and respect for the object, its also about care and its protection thanks to its being unique. As city-dwellers, I think we cannot escape consumerism, and the fight to get the publics attention is big. We believe this project should create communities of artists and art lovers. We target people who are open and eager to know many things, people, who, perhaps, are interested in contemporary art, but they dont know how to approach it, since the milieu is sometimes opaque. For them, “Art Machine” could be a gateway to that end. In March 2019 the first “Art Machine” prototype was made public, as part of the, “Pink Pill Pastila Roz – The Resolution Will Be Supervised”, project venued by the 030202 Workshop, an area coordinated by Mihai Zgondoiu. It was one of the first exhibitions, mounted by the Pink Pill group in Bucharest. Six months later, in September 2019, as part of “Art Safari”, at the super-contemporary art exhibition themed “Young Blood, Art of Your Time”, curated by Mihai Zgondoiu, “Art Machine” is a functional art object, with a professional machinery in it. The works it dispatched back then cost 1 leu, 10 or 50 Lei (that is between around 50 Eurocents and 10 Euro), actually according to visitors choice. We decided it should be up to them, as to how they think contemporary art is worth. There wasnt any difference in the work they got, it was only their perception of its value. Of the 700 works we got ready for them, with us, alone, with the Pink Pill, all of them were sold out from the very first day. And thats how the three of us became the art machine the produced works day in, day out. The idea was so good that other artists got involved, they helped us, there were also ordinary people, visitors of Art Safari, who had at the bar in the courtyard. small talk, and a felt-tip pen. In ten days, we succeeded to sell three thousand works and run out of ideas. Since August 2020, “Art Machine” își has been changing its trajectory towards todays direction, that of developing a community in order to propose a new way of consuming contemporary art. The number of artists who got involved in our projects is continuously growing. Initially, we worked with fine and graphic artists, in a bid to support this idea of original art. And here I can mention the Square Cat, Obert, Teodora Gavrilă or Irina Iliescu, but we also worked with photographers and directors.”



    Here is artist Alexandru Claudiu Maxim once again, this time sharing the creators vision of the projects future prospects:



    “We see the project as being developed in other cities as well, mainly in those with academic fine arts education programmes : Cluj, Timișoara or Iași. Pursuing the idea of creating communities, other “Art Machines”, that is, it should be curated by the people who know the place, with artists of the place. We also mull the construction of a new machine that can dispatch works with a size larger than that of a post card. “


    (EN)




  • Projects of the Ceausescu Era and their remnants in today’s Bucharest

    Projects of the Ceausescu Era and their remnants in today’s Bucharest


    The Crangasi district in the north-western area of Bucharest in the north-western area of Bucharest boasts Romanian capital city’s biggest artificial lake. The water surface area has a rather recent history. It appeared 36 years ago, in 1986. It is known as the Mill Lake. The lake is also known as the Ciurel or the Dambovita Lake. The area proper of the water surface is impressive; it used to be part of the large-scale watercourse arrangement project targeting the Dambovita river which cuts through Romania’s capital city, from north-west to the east.



    We’re about to explore the history of the Mill Lake, and our guide is historian Cezar Buiumaci with the Bucharest Municipal Museum. Here he is, taking us back to the beginnings of Bucharest’s newest and biggest lake.



    Cezar Buiumaci:



    The Mill Lake is part of Dambovita river’s watercourse arrangement project and, as an idea, it first occurred once with the inception of Bucharest’s town planning works in the 20th century’s early 1980s. It was part of Nicolae Ceausescu’s great makeover project for the city. The Bucharest leader was only taking up on an idea that had occurred previously, that of the construction of a waterway linking Bucharest to the Danube and involving the watercourse of Dambovita and Arges rivers. The condition of the Dambovita river flow was analyzed, only to reveal that the old river bed was not fit for inland waterway transportation. For the water flow to increase, two big river-barrier lakes were created: Ciurel, also known as the Mill Lake or the Dambovita Lake, and Vacaresti.



    The large-scale makeover project of the mid 1908s targeting Dambovita had a political component, but also a town planning significance. Here is historian Cezar Buiumaci once again, with the details.



    On July 5, 1985, the Romanian Communist Party’s Central Committee convened a meeting of the Executive Political Committee, highlighting the impending necessity of carrying watercourse arrangement works for Dambovita river as part and parcel of the new Civic Center project. The project included the construction of a big river-barrier lake in the western part of the city, with the purpose of storing an important volume of water required for the clean-water supply of Dambovita river. It had also been though out as a protection system in the event of the rivers’ bursting their banks, at once being a pleasure lake. Watercourse arrangement works also targeted the sanitizing of Dambovita river as it was flowing through Bucharest, the improvement of the climate, the creation of proper navigation facilities and the carrying of construction works for the Bucharest – River Danube waterway. Works took off as soon as the official consent was given, by dint of Decree no. 201 issued on July 12, 1985.



    However, in spite of all that, the idea of Dambovita river’s navigability would be given up on, as soon as specialists were consulted. On September 28, 1985, the construction site was opened festively, while almost a year later, in August 1986, the gates were be closed, of the Ciurel dam.



    Historian Cezar Buiumaci:



    On August 21, 1986, the large-scale work was completed for the Ciurel river-barrier lake, Bucharest’s biggest artificial lake, stretching along a surface area of 240 hectares, with a total capacity of 20 million cubic meters and meant to provide the supply of drinkable, irrigation and industrial water. The river-barrier water lake also had the purpose of collecting the water from floodwaters. The undertaking also included river bank protection works, upstream of the lake, until Dragomiresti-Deal, along 5 kilometres, or thereabouts. A surface area of more than 1,100 hectares of farmland was thus protected, as well as other categories of investments lying in the proximity of the river bed. For the water to be evacuated, a river dam was built, nearby the Ciurel bridge, it was made of ferro-concrete, with 3 dams having a 6-meter span each. The sea of Crangasi has a depth of 5 to 10 meters and is embanked with a dam made of thick clay, obtained from the excavation operations for the valley of the lake.



    However, the large-scale project meant the relocation of a cemetery and of several human communities that inhabited the area. According to the urban legends, sometimes human bodies could be seen floating on the water, so the lake was dubbed the Death Lake, a play upon words, in Romanian, with Lacul Morii becoming Lacul Mortii.



    Cezar Buiumaci:



    Here, apart from other objectives, there was a cemetery around Crangasi church and the decision was taken, for the cemetery to be dismantled and the human remains to be relocated to the Giulesti-Sarbi cemetery. In early 1985, disinterment works began. The timeframe for that kind of work was limited, the employees were unable to meet their deadlines and the gravediggers from other cemeteries refused to help with the dismantling, so sanitation workers were employed instead. The construction of the lake on the premises of the former cemetery, that still makes the topic of several urban legends.



    Another purpose for the construction of Lacul Morii, the Mill Lake was that of doing leisure and sports activities.



    Historian Cezar Buiumaci:



    Since it was built in a densely-populated area, the Dambovita lake also had to cater for a cultural and sports component. Being an area where the access from other districts could be made using the underground thoroughfare but also the surface public transport, arrangements were designed for ground and nautical sports: sports fishing wharfs and an island with a surface area of roughly 5 hectares. For its greater part, it was built by workers from other enterprises doing community work, they put in more than 70,000 hours in terms of workload until September 2, 1987.



    The Mill Lake in north-western Bucharest, for quite some time now, has been a noted landmark of the city. The development of the last three decades, the events that have been staged there as well as the natural climate that has been created in the meantime have made the lake increasingly attractive.


    (EN)





  • “Educated Romania” project, taken on by the government

    “Educated Romania” project, taken on by the government

    Launched by president Klaus Iohannis, the “Educated Romania initiative has just turned into a governmental project. The Cabinet will come up with a legislative package containing reforms in the education sector and funding for the relevant goals. The legislation is to be finalised by 1 October, and the financial resources will come from the state budget and from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.



    The project targets the improvement of school infrastructure, of teacher training and of the education process. A developed country, with a sound democratic system, requires educated and informed citizens, said president Iohannis, himself a teacher, and a politician whose presidential terms in office focused on education.



    Klaus Iohannis: “We cannot go on with such high dropout and functional and scientific illiteracy rates. For these problems, Educated Romania comes up with concrete solutions, with ambitious yet realistic goals, measures and targets. Specific targets include cutting the early dropout rate, the functional illiteracy rate, ensuring basic digital skills for both teachers and students, developing vocational education and increasing the number of higher education graduates.



    According to PM Florin Cîţu, the government aims to cut functional illiteracy from 50 to 20% by 2030, and to reduce school dropout. By 1 August, an inter-ministry group will be set up, which will be monitoring the project. The group will be chaired by the PM, with the education minister Sorin Cîmpeanu as deputy chairman. Cîmpeanu emphasised that a new political agreement is necessary, so as to prevent changes in the relevant legislation in case other parties come to power.



    Sorin Cîmpeanu: “The first task for the inter-ministry group to be set up by 1 August will be to decide whether to amend the current education law, or to draw up separate laws on undergraduate and graduate education, whether academic research will be integrated in the graduate education system, and whether the law will incorporate regulations on the teaching profession. This is the first task on which this group will have to focus, and its political composition will be important because ultimately the bill will go to Parliament for endorsement. We need consultations to identify a common denominator acceptable for all political parties, so that we may ensure predictability in the education system.



    After Romanias NATO and EU accession, the overhauling of the countrys failing education system might be the most important national project, transcending political differences. Its success would be vital for the future generations ability to thrive in a constantly changing world. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Educated Romania: a presidential project

    Educated Romania: a presidential project

    Educated Romania, a country project launched in 2016, aims at improving Romanian education, which is lagging behind Western European systems, as the project initiator, president Klaus Iohannis warned.



    Without having so far triggered any changes whatsoever in the education system, the initiative has been subject to successive public debate series over the past few years. These days it is back in the spotlight, with consultations held by the head of state with the political class, education stakeholders and NGOs involved in the project, as the public debate is drawing to a close.



    The presidential administration announced last week that the projects main reform goals and lines of action will be presented during these talks, so that a political and social consensus would be reached, which would guarantee its implementation and its approval by all political parties.



    The reform should lead to a decentralised education system, better teachers, new infrastructure and equipment standards, academic subjects and assessments focused on developing skills and on improving access to education.



    The changes outlined in the Educated Romania project include testing for skills, decentralisation, flexibility, lifelong learning for teachers and schools adjusted to the labour market. Solutions for an efficient education system include a smaller number of school subjects, smaller workloads for children, with a focus on their skills and creativity.



    One major change concerns the high school system, with 3 routes—theoretical, professional and vocational—spanning 4 years, and graduates from all 3 categories able to take the baccalaureate if they choose to and transfers allowed between high school types.



    The professional route involves obtaining a level-3 professional certification at the end of the 11th grade and a level-4 certification at the end of the 12th grade. Colleges and post-high schools would subsequently provide level-5 certification.



    The baccalaureate exam would assess a set of skills that all high school graduates, regardless of the profile, should have. Some high schools, where the demand is higher than the number of seats available, may also organise admission exams.



    According to the project coordinators, schools must provide information and train children for life. Some of the targets of the project for 2030 include bringing the early school dropout rate down to a maximum 10%, reducing functional illiteracy by at least 50%, Romania ranking among the worlds top 30 countries by PISA test results, a minimum 80% pass rate in middle school final exams and a 75% pass rate in the Baccalaureate exams.



    Presidential adviser Ligia Deca explained that the “Educated Romania project is a plan rather than a law, and that next week the government would endorse a memorandum setting clear deadlines within this project. (tr. A.M. Popescu)

  • Contemporary art at the time of the pandemic

    Contemporary art at the time of the pandemic


    The National Museum of
    Contemporary Art in Bucharest has never ceased to be close to people in many
    ways, and we’ve grown accustomed to that. This time, one of the museum’s new
    projects drew our attention. It is themed Art through correspondence.
    The project seeks to create a genuine bond between seniors, children and
    contemporary art. Initially, the project has been implemented through a string
    of pilot activities that took off in January this year but which are
    nonetheless part of a long-term undertaking. The eventual aim of the project is
    bringing together, through correspondence, the children and the elderly, also
    creating emotional ties between people of those age brackets as well as a bond
    of a different order, between those people and contemporary art, at a time when
    the feeling of loneliness takes its toll on people’s psyche, especially in the
    isolated communities. Mălina Ionescu is the head of the National Museum of
    Contemporary Art’s education section.

    Malina Ionescu:

    It is
    a model of working together that in recent years has been used on a large
    scale, abroad. And because we, at the museum, through our ‘Community Art’ program, have been trying to
    relate to school communities in a broader sense and we have also been trying to
    reach out to the school communities that do not have the possibility to come to
    us, be they underprivileged communities or communities lying outside Bucharest,
    and then we thought that, because we know the children with Teach for Romania or
    the elderly people with the Seneca Anticafe, the museum would be a proper bond
    when it comes to having the two relate to one another. We have been doing that
    through correspondence, sadly, because this is the context that we’ve got and
    because the direct contact with the museum, but also between the two groups of
    beneficiaries, is, as we speak, impossible.


    For a six-month timespan,
    the project seeks to form senior-junior teams that on a monthly basis will
    convey their thoughts through letters turned works of contemporary art.
    Children have learned notions of contemporary art, based on which they created
    thematic letters as part of a workshop Malina Ionescu gave on Zoom.

    Malina Ionescu:


    For the time being, I’ve only had one
    workshop with the children, and I also
    had one presentation of the whole project for the seniors. The suggestion has
    been made, that of the correspondence, to the children as well as to the
    seniors, it was presented to them as an opportunity to befriend correspondents
    belonging to age brackets that could be very familiar to them, nephews, for the
    elderly, and grandparents, for the children. They placed themselves in such positions,
    of grandparents and nephews and of course, that of distance friends. The
    project began with the children, we’ve had the initial workshop where we span
    the yarn of what having a correspondence meant, in general, since the concept
    is quite unfamiliar, given that, almost all correspondence and communication
    are digital, we also spoke about how a letter can in fact become a work of art,
    in its own right, but also through the process of posting it as the letters are
    to be received by the senior. The project is still in its early days.


    The project’s pilot stage brings
    together 30 lonely grandparents in Giurgiu county, currently on a program
    labelled Our grandparents, there are 30 schoolchildren aged 12 and 13, from the
    Herasti and Izvoarele villages, Giurgiu county, who are registered with two
    schools that have been included in the Teach for Romania project.


    The parties involved have
    got enthused in the beginning. However, nobody knows what turn the
    correspondence project is going to take.

    Malina Ionescu:


    The
    first suggestion was to view correspondence as a form of art, rather than view it
    as a form of communication. Of course, the challenge we’ve had was twofold,
    since for the children, communication itself was something unusual, under that
    form, the written one, a physical one, that is, while for the elderly, it was
    not, whereas the fact that we have come
    up with an approach that was slightly off-the-beaten-track as regards what a
    letter and an envelope meant and the idea of posting it, that was a primary contact
    with what mail-art meant, the letter which itself can turn into a form of
    artistic expression, when we relate to the graphic and the visual sign as if
    they were an image and not just an ordinary form of the written text, capable of
    conveying the content alone and when the text and the form to go with it become
    just as important as the message itself, through drawings, through
    interventions. What they in fact did was to view the page and the envelope as
    pages on which they could draw and paint. We presented children with various
    means of playing, with the envelope and with the letter, with the message, and
    we made available for them all sorts of colors and pencils and ink, enabling
    them to go beyond the letter where all that matters is what you convey through
    words alone.


    Malina Ionescu tells us what is expected from the next step to be taken
    as part of the project.


    We hope the
    elderly will be quite responsive as well and, when it comes to the next
    letters, they will answer too and will be encouraged to go beyond the
    correspondence proper with a child and what they would like to convey to that
    child and
    use that medium as a form of
    personal expression, since that’s what it’s all about after all. And what we
    most want is that, in the next stage of the project, when it is possible, we should
    bring the children and the elderly together at the museum, for a couple of
    workshops and visiting sessions so that certain bonds may become stronger, between
    them, but also between them and the museum.


    Each of the coming months
    will see a workshop for children being held on Zoom. Children will create all
    sorts of materials and will write letters that will be sent to the seniors
    together with the usual food parcel Seneca sends them every month. The exchange
    of letters will be made possible through the Seneca volunteers and through
    Teach for Romania.






  • What parents think about online education

    What parents think about online education

    The general crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has changed education practices. Since classes have been suspended, students and teachers have had to adapt to the new situation, so their personal computers, tablets or mobile phones replaced the classroom, become a teaching space. Pupils and students and equally their parents had to adapt to the new context, the school curriculum and the inherent teaching methods. Interaction with classmates and teachers by means of a screen has practically brought school at home. Nevertheless, all this time, many parents have felt highly pressured.



    An online press conference organized as part of the SuperTeach project presented the results of the latest survey conducted in Romania in relation to parents perception of online teaching as well as to the challenges posed by the state of emergency.



    Felix Tătaru, a co-founder of SuperTeach, has more: “Based on information from teachers, we started organizing webinars and conferences, with themes and guests adapted to their needs. But any action, especially in the education domain, needs feedback. Teachers need feedback from parents, pupils or students, therefore, we have conducted a second survey together with Open-l Research, with Adina Nica. Parents answered several questions and we invited 2 experts who spoke from different perspectives: the educational management perspective and that of the parents association, about issues brought about by parents.



    Through this survey, Adina Nica, a consultant and researcher with Open-I Research, analyzed the psychological impact of online education and what it meant from the point of view of social interaction: “I would first mention the parents positive attitude towards online education. Pressure on parents was high during this period, and we expect pressure to be equally high when their children return to school. Parents were quite worried about the suspension of classes, given that communication with the teachers was much delayed at the beginning of the state of emergency. From the childrens standpoint, the suspension of classes meant deprivation of social life.



    During the home isolation period, Romanian parents had to adapt to a new daily lifestyle, while trying to cope with the new challenges at their work place and to support their children during the online teaching process. Oftentimes, the parents work from home overlapped their childrens online classes on audio-video web platforms.



    Adina Nica has more: “Parents were very much affected by these changes, because, besides changing their way of working from home or even losing their jobs, they found themselves in a new situation, with their kids at home and with lots of activities to fulfill such as cooking, spending time with their children, helping them with the homework and with how to deal with the new online platforms. It was a major change for parents, with a lot of pressure for them.



    The SuperTeach survey also analyzed the emergency situations psychological impact on parents, their fears being often related to a feeling of social uncertainty. Adina Nica: “Parents have had many fears, their major fear being related to their kids and their own health or to their parents health. They also had fears regarding the education system. Parents were not sure that their kids could make up for the lost classes, especially the 8th and 12th graders. And all these fears added to financial insecurity.



    Another thing that has worried parents during the state of emergency period was whether they had a correct attitude towards their own children. They wondered if they were too lenient or too strict with their children.



    Here is Adina Nica back at the microphone: “When asked about major difficulties in this period, they first mentioned the balance between authority and flexibility. The teachers had vanished into thin air, they did not know how to react, so their first reaction was to disappear for a while. Parents were left with their kids at home and didnt know what to do in the first place. They did not know whether to leave their kids enjoy the mini holiday, or to be strict and make them study.



    Despite difficulties, many parents have chosen to look at the bright side of things and considered that the many challenges they were faced with helped them exercise their ability to adapt to change. Adina Nica has more: Asked to mention the positive aspects of this period, parents first said that home isolation was an opportunity for their kids to adapt to change. They also mentioned the opportunity to spend more time with their family and do more things together and thirdly the opportunity to experiment with digital platforms.



    Initiated by the “Romanian Business Leaders Foundation, the EDUCATIVA Group and the Institute for Personal Development, the SuperTeach project promotes the idea of focusing on students needs and on training teachers according to the principles of open-mindedness. (translation by Lacramioara Simion)

  • The National Peasant Museum stays close to its public during lockdown

    The National Peasant Museum stays close to its public during lockdown

    The National Peasant Museum (MTR) has initiated a number of digital projects, held exclusively online, as part of a broader programme designed to diversify its cultural offer and adapt it to the new situation triggered by the pandemic that has hit the planet. “A playful dictionary of countryside life, “Bedtime stories… at MTR, “MTR inspires me, “The home at home: stories from everywhere, brought together, and “#Particular are just some of the titles of projects that introduce a new approach and build bridges between the Museum and the public at home. Here is Iris Şerban, coordinator of the MTR Image Archive:



    Iris Şerban: “We simply wondered what we can do in this context—and let this new challenge direct us. Our main resources are quite simple, yet very strong, as we came to realize: our creativity, know-how, and the answer to the question “what do we have available, and what can we build using all these?. So we had a brainstorming session, with colleagues from several departments, whether in research and documentation, or in archives, or in the museum education department. And we put together a programme consisting in a number of specific activities, to be held for a while exclusively online, as well as activities that we can carry on in the medium and long run. So when we get back to normal—although nobody seems to know when this will be and what this normal will actually be—these projects may be continued offline.



    The ideas of the researchers, archive experts and museum educators who designed this cultural programme for the isolation period can be carried on after the National Peasant Museum resumes its operation, with exhibitions and publications showcasing this online interaction with the public. But in the meantime, the Museums friends are invited to contribute to the project entitled “#Particular.



    Iris Şerban: “#Particular started from a very simple idea, an anthropological fact that we noticed in the current context. Whether we like it or not, we have to stay at home, and basically we have to go the same routes every day, and these interior routes can become repetitive, tiring, annoying. So our challenge was to look at the objects in our home in a different way, because everyones home is a universe in itself, with all sorts of stories and memories, and our home is part of the life that we now live in a different way.



    Why would a virtual museum showcase items that are so familiar to each and every one of us? Because they make up a personal heritage, says Iris Serban. But it is not only our interaction with specific objects that is important during these days in lockdown; interpersonal relations within the family also need strengthening. And in the project entitled “Bedtime stories…, children and parents are invited to listen to folk tales every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Here is Valentina Bâcu, an expert with the Museums Education Department:



    Valentina Bâcu: “This is an audio tale section, addressing both children and parents. Colleagues from various departments of the museum present short traditional stories, legends and folk tales. We chose them because most of them are already known to parents and as such they are a starting point for a dialogue with their kids.



    And the effort to encourage creativity, which is specific to the National Peasant Museum, has given birth to a project called “MŢR inspires me. Theatre, visual and sound improv and even a pandemic diary, are challenges for children of all ages.



    Valentina Bâcu: “We encourage the public to interact with us by sending their own creative activities, in several sections. We have a section devoted to home theatre, updated as a rule at the weekend, on Sunday night. Children, assisted by parents, are encouraged to create a performance using home items, or shadow plays. Children are invited to sing, or to invent sounds, or to act as story tellers, together with their parents.



    As for switching the older projects into the online medium, one example is a project called “A museum in a box.



    Valentina Bâcu: “Another section is called “A museum in a box. Because this is a time when we can only visit virtual museums, we encourage children to create their own exhibitions, their own museums at home. They can do this using the walls of their house or even a simple box. If they want to add a digital element, we offer a number of brief tutorials on doing stop-motion animation. This is basically a digital take on the animation workshop that we organise at the MTR.



    All the projects created specifically for the online medium are currently available on the National Peasant Museum home page and on the institutions Facebook and Instagram accounts.


    (translated by: Ana-Maria Popescu)


  • Reactions to President Macron’s proposals on reforming the EU

    Reactions to President Macron’s proposals on reforming the EU

    Creating a ‘European preference’ line in terms of competition, protecting the political life from external interference and cyber attacks, setting up a European Security Council that should also include Great Britain and revising the Schengen agreement are some of the proposals made by the French President in an op-ed called ‘For a European renaissance’ which was published in multiple European newspapers on Monday evening.



    President Macron suggests that, by the end of 2019, a conference should be organized together with representatives of the European institutions and of the member states, which should tackle the changes necessary for the new political project. As regards Brexit, President Macron believes that the main problem is not the UK’s membership to the EU but the lies and irresponsible statements made, which might destroy the European project.



    In another move, Emmanuel Macron believes that a ban should be put on the funding of the European political parties by foreign powers as well as all on the online incitement to hatred and violence. In relation to migration, President Macron says the Schengen free movement Agreement needs to be revised. He also advocates the creation of a European defense and security treaty meant to define the obligations of each state in terms of defense, in close relation with NATO, which should entail an increase in military expenses, the activation of the mutual defense clause and a European Security Council which should also include Great Britain. On social rights, Macron proposes a ‘social shield’ guaranteeing the same pay in the same workplace and a minimum wage appropriate to each country and discussed collectively every year.



    Reactions to Macron’s proposals were not late to appear. In Bucharest, PM Viorica Dancila said she was eager to read President Macron’s plan which Romania, as president of the Council of the EU, welcomes, given its concern for the future of Europe. The leader of the ruling Social Democratic Party in Romanian Liviu Dragnea said that Romania should support the organization of a Conference for Europe, a project in which it should take an active part. The proposals of the French President were received with reticence by the Romanian MEPs.



    The Liberal Norica Nicolai claimed Macron’s message was an electoral move, while Marian Jean Marinescu representing the European People’s Party group believes Macron’s project is nothing but a publicity stunt. In exchange, the president of the European Council Donald Tusk hailed the reforms that call for an enhanced cooperation for what Macron termed as the ‘renaissance of Europe’ and the president of the European Commission Jean Claude Juncker praised Macron’s firm commitment to identifying and meeting the European challenges.

  • “Observator Lyceum”, a project carried out by Observator Cultural

    “Observator Lyceum”, a project carried out by Observator Cultural

    “Observator Lyceum” is a project initiated in 2016 by the “Observator Cultural” magazine with support from the Romanian Literature Museum, after the model of the prestigious French prize, Goncourt des Lycéens. The project is meant to create a platform of communication between contemporary Romanian writers and young readers, out of the wish to instill in them a passion for reading and for Romanian literature. Awarded during the Observatorul Cultural Award Gala, in 2018 the project enjoyed the participation of students from 9 of the best high-schools in Bucharest, who granted the Observator Lyceum Prize for prose. Students receive books, read them and jury: the winner in 2016 was Octavian Soviany, for the novel The Death of Siegfried, brought out by the Cartea Românească Publishers, in 2017 Vlad Zografi, with the novel The Side Effects of Life, issued by Humanitas Publishers, and finally in 2018 Tatiana Țîbuleac with the novel The Summer When Mother had Green Eyes, brought out by Cartier Publishers.



    Carmen Muşat, the initiator of Observator Lyceum, believes the project is a special opportunity for both students and contemporary writers. Thanks to the project, students discover contemporary literature and develop their critical spirit, which can’t otherwise be stimulated by either the school curricula which hasn’t been changed for tens of years or by the media, which gives little coverage to cultural events.



    Carmen Muşat: “Every year, debates are extraordinary, I like them a lot. Left alone to think about the text and ponder, these young people prove to be extraordinarily creative. And..when we meet and discuss the text, they do not repeat their opinions. Even if I choose the same text, they always bring forth different arguments to support their opinion. It is fascinating to see they are open minded children, who can express their ideas and thoughts coherently and meaningfully in the Romanian language. And I believe this is precisely the main purpose of education: to mould and create people capable to understand and express themselves. If we ask them only to repeat what others say, you can’t stimulate them in any way. And I’m not referring to literature alone, but also to their behavior as citizens. How could we have responsible citizens if you do not give them credit, if you don’t make them understand that their opinion matters? Unfortunately, the Romanian education system forces them more often than not to appropriate others’ ideas. Therefore, can we dare hope they will have critical thinking?”



    To Dorica Boltaşu Nicolae, a teacher at the “Iulia Haşdeu” high-school in Bucharest, Observator Lyceum is not the first project she takes part in outside the school curricula. She organized debates and workshops for her students and has recommended to them several contemporary writers, who could stir her students’ interest in literature, thanks to the theme they approach.



    Dorica Boltaşu Nicolae: “I attended the debate organized ahead of the jury’s decision and I can say that both for me and my colleagues from the other high schools it was a big surprise to see them in the process of decision making. To see them arguing, contradicting one another, because they do have the courage to contradict one another, which does not happen during a regular Romanian literature class. It was surprising to see how they think, how they speak, how they relate to certain values and aspects of life which they find in those books. We were so eager to hear everything that they were saying, it was like watching a show. Observator Lyceum is a great chance for them.”



    Lorena Mihăilescu and Ana Maria Ion, students with the ‘Iulia Hasdeu’ National College, have been part of the jury of the Observator Lyceum since the very first edition. Observator Lyceum gave them the chance to understand that each argument and opinion matters and that contemporary literature connects one to the world one is living in.



    Lorena Mihăilescu: “I don’t think I am wrong to say that in the first edition, in 2016, everybody was hesitant and shy, even though we ended up having a normal conversation. We went past our embarrassment or the fear of saying what we think, and we supported our favorite books. I was very impressed with the debates in the second year, which were quite fiery and passionate. I loved that atmosphere, where each participant used arguments to support their opinions. In the 3rd edition of Observator Lyceum, which is my favourite one, there were a lot of participants, almost 30 people, with some high schools having as many as 4 representatives each. So there were lots of opinions and arguments, everybody had a personal view. What is essential is that during all these years we have learned a lot, from how to express ourselves to how to read a text.”



    Ana Maria Ion: “My favorite edition so far is the last one, because I loved the books that we had to discuss. Another advantage of the last edition was, as Lorena also pointed out, the fact that the project developed and in 2018 there were a lot of participants. As a result, the debates were quite animated. In my opinion, the main benefit of the Observator Lyceum project is that it has helped us become aware of our differences and understand that it is only natural for each person to have a different opinion about a text. And it is very important that this format does away with reading a text in the uniform manner imposed in high schools. Unfortunately, in high schools we are taught that there is only one possible opinion on a literary text, namely the one from the textbook.”