Radio România Internațional

Category: World of Culture

  • Dana Păpăruz, a multi-award-winning artist

    Dana Păpăruz, a multi-award-winning artist

    Dana Păpăruz began her career as a costume designer in the early 2000s, immediately after graduating from the Faculty of Decorative Arts and Design of the National Arts University, and has collaborated on numerous films and hundreds of commercials. Some of the films are ‘Beyond The Hills’ directed by Cristian Mungiu, ‘La Gomera’ directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, RUXX directed by Iulia Rugină and Octav Gheorghe, ‘Boss’ directed by Bogdan Mirică, ‘Shadows’ directed by Igor Cobileanski and Bogdan Mirică, ‘Warboy’ by Marian Crișan and ‘Lemonade’ / ’Honeymoon’ by Ioana Uricaru.

     

    For her achievements, Dana Păpăruz was rewarded with three Gopo awards: in 2016 and 2017 for the films directed by Radu Jude, “Aferim!” and “Inimi Cicatrizate”(Scarred Hearts), and in 2019 for “Moromeții 2”, the second part of the Moromeții trilogy, directed by Stere Gulea. Radu Jude’s two films, “Aferim!” and ‘Scarred Hearts’ represented two great challenges for the artist. If the action in “Aferim!” (a film that received the Silver Bear for direction at the Berlin Film Festival) takes place in Wallachia at the beginning of the 19th century, ‘Scarred Hearts’ tells the story of a young man suffering from tuberculosis and is a free adaptation of the literary work of Max Blecher.

     

    Here is Dana Păpăruz with details: “’Aferim!’ was really hard, I think it was the project that somehow increased my value. In ‘ Scarred Hearts’ the budget was smaller than in “Aferim!” and it was a new challenge because the action takes place in a completely different period. A close collaboration was necessary between the makeup and sculpture departments that created the casts worn by the characters in the film, who suffered from bone tuberculosis and had to be laid on mobile beds. And their life was quite boring, spent mostly in sanatoriums and limited in movement. The biggest challenge was that I had to create the costumes based on these casts, so I took the measurements and most of the costumes in this project were created by my team, very few were borrowed. At least for the character played by Ivana Mladenovic, Solange, a lot was invested, about half of the budget we had, and some very special hats were created, including that hat with birds. The period in which the action of Scarred Hearts takes place is the interwar period, very attractive from a fashion point of view, when we also had a synchronization and a desire to adopt European fashion. All these aspects helped me to fully use my imagination. Moreover, Scarred Hearts is one of the projects that I was able to play with and I appreciated that Radu Jude wanted me to come up with bold ideas. And since I mentioned the hat with birds worn by Ivana Mladenovic, an example is that very hat. What inspired me to create this hat is a cover of the Vogue magazine from 1939, a cover that I showed to the director Radu Jude, who accepted my idea, so, we looked for variants to succeed in making it. I documented the costumes using everything I found from that period, fashion magazines, photographs taken by Romanian artists, and obviously books.”

     

    Another important project for Dana Păpăruz’s career was her work with the director Cristian Mungiu, who hired her as a costume designer for the film “După dealuri” (“Beyond the Hills”), released in 2012.

     

    Written, directed and produced by Cristian Mungiu, the film is inspired by the non-fiction novels of the writer Tatiana Niculescu, focusing on the exorcism of a nun at the Tanacu monastery in Vaslui County.

     

    Dana Păpăruz: “In principle, ‘După dealuri’ did not appear to be a very complicated film in terms of costumes. Moreover, Cristian Mungiu usually gives you all the freedom and waits for you to come up with suggestions. But the complicated part, which we did not expect, was the fact that the characters wore specific costumes and it is very difficult to document something like that on site, in a monastery, which is a very closed environment. We were lucky, however, that the leading actresses were able to spend some time in a monastery, and that helped us a lot to understand what monastery life means. So Dana Tapalaga, who played the abbess in the film, tried to find out details that were very useful to us, such as how to cover one’s head with that veil that nuns must wear permanently.”

     

    Dana Păpăruz’s most recent collaboration was with the director Stere Gulea, who at the end of last year released ‘Moromeții 3’, a film that concludes a unique trilogy in Romanian cinema, based on the novels and life of the writer Marin Preda.

     

    Dana Păpăruz: “It is a film that explains at a deep level the changes experienced by Romania in the 1950s. It is also a film made with a lot of love and a lot of hard work. It was a very demanding project for me, I didn’t have a single day off during the filming, I would also work at home or reread a new version of the script. At the same time, it is a fresh film in terms of costumes and I think that it can be a surprising story, especially for young viewers”.

     

    The winner of the Audience Award at the 2024 TIFF/ Transylvania International Film Festival, “Moromeții 3” has been screened at several national film festivals (TIFF, TIFF Chișinău, Serile Filmului Românesc – Iași, Film în Sat – Peștișani, TIFF Timișoara). (LS, AMP)

  • Posh audiobook brought out by the Casa Radio Publishers in Bucharest

    Posh audiobook brought out by the Casa Radio Publishers in Bucharest

    An audiobook made of a printed book and a CD, Dance, has enjoyed a tremendous success. It includes poems read by Nina Cassian and was re issued by the Casa Radio, Radio House Publishers. The recently-released edition is a substantially updated edition, including poems read by the author and an interview on Nina Cassian’s work and immigration. The interview was conducted by Radio Romania journalist Emil Buruiana.

    The new audiobook was compiled and released in an anniversary context, since in 2024 we marked 100 years since Nina Cassian’s birthday. Basically, it includes 51 poems Nina Cassian recorded with Radio Romania, between 1959 and 2003. Literary critic Cosmin Ciotlos wrote the foreword, while the author of the illustrations is Tudor Jebeleanu.

    An essayist, a translator, a composer and visual artist, Nina Cassian hails from a family of Jewish origin. When she was a teenager, she began frequenting leftist intellectual circles. At the aged of 16 she joined the Communist Youth organization, then an illegal entity. Young Nina Cassian dreamt of absolving the world of all its fundamental antagonisms between sexes, races, peoples, classes.

    Her editorial debut occurred in 1947, with a surrealist volume of poems, Scale 1/1. However, in the wake of an ideological attack then the newspaper Scanteia The Spark launched against her, Nina Cassian gradually begam to write avowedly proletarian poetry. After an eight-year-long roundabout, in her own words, Nina Cassian returned to authentic poetry and started writing literature for children as well.

    As a translator, she created remarkable Romanian versions of works by Shakespeare, Bertolt Brecht, Christian Morgenstern, Iannis Ritsos and Paul Celan.

    A superb poem for children “The Tale of Two Tiger Cubs, named Ninigra and Aligru”, earned Nina Cassian the Romanian writers’ Union Prize in 1969. In 1985 Nina Cassian was a guest professor in the United States’ New York University. When she was there, Nina found out about the arrest and murder in prison of dissident Gheorghe Ursu, a close friend of hers.

    In his diary, confiscated by then the Securitate the name of Nina Cassian was mentioned, and so were her political opinions, blatantly anti-Ceausescu. Nina stayed in the United States while her apartment in Romania was confiscated and her books banned from publication and retired from libraries until the collapse of the Ceausescu regime.

    In the United States, Nina Cassian published translations of her poetry written in Romanian (”Life Sentence”), as well as poems she wrote in English (”Take My Word for It!”, ”Blue Apple” şi ”Lady of Miracles”), for which she scooped New York Library’s Silver Lion Prize in 1994.

    Nina Cassian spent the last 30 years of her life in New York. There she wrote her memoirs, which she described as a major project of her age and life, a mirror of the stolen and given years. Entitled Memory as Dowry the three volumes were brought out in Romania over 2003 and 2005.

    Attending the launch event staged by the Casa Radio Publishers were the curator of the recent edition of the Audiobook entitled Dance, literary critic Cosmin Ciotloş, filmmaker Alexandru Solomon and writer Călin-Andrei Mihăilescu.

    Cosmin Ciotloș spoke about the longevity of Nina Cassian’s poetry.

    ” What I was mainly interested in was how much of Nina Cassian today’s Romanian poetry has preserved. And when I say today’s I have a broader timespan in mind. It struck me that, for instance, many of the puns in Florin Iaru’s poetry are legitimately, beautifully, graciously indebted to Nina Cassian’s poetry. Mircea Cartarescu’s poems in the volumes A Night at the Opera or The Levant, dedicated to Ion Barbu, do not go straight to Ion Barbu but they pass through Nina Cassian’s filter.

    On the other hand, it struck me that the very young poets of today to an appreciable extent resonate with Nina Cassian’s poetry. They are a bunch of youngsters I have totally placed my stakes on because they can shake a little bit the way too troubled and way too visceral waters of my generation of poets whom I otherwise hold most dear, but towards whom in no way can I perform an exercise in worship. I mainly have in mind those who publish on the platform known as The Sonnets’ Mafia, the very young Ioan Coroamă, Florentin Popa or Mihnea Bâlici, they are youngsters on whom, again, I have totally placed my stakes.

    That being said, our response to what Nina Casian left behind her as something important in poetry should be far from a mere indiscriminate admiration. It is a poetry that needs to be filtered rationally, it needs to be properly documented, and, at the endpoint of this documentation, apart from the ethical stance we can judge, more or less, we shall soon find out we have interacted with a vivid stylistic formula. A stylistic formula which is still productive, and we do not owe that to Nina Cassian’s longevity, but to the longevity of Nina Cassian’s wit. “

    A Canadian resident since the late 1980s, writer Călin Andrei Mihăilescu met Nina Cassian first in 2 Mai, the Romanian Black Sea resort where she used to spend her summers, and then in New York, decades later.

    ”This is an audiobook, so you can hear Nina’s voice recorded on the radio between the late 1950s and the early 2000. And I can say Nina Cassian’s voice is very high, were we to place her in a pantheon of the great Romanian voices. Hers was an educated voice. It was an extremely clever voice, at one refine and erotic. I got to know better Nina in New York in the last 20 years of her life. There was a time when I went there once a month doing creative writing workshops, alternatively, in Romanian and din English, or in both languages in one single session.

    I was doing those workshops together with Nina, who had a bottle of crap whiskey yet it usually was one a one-liter bottle and who was capable of making anyone drink their heads off. Obviously, she smoked more than I do and, believe you me, I really am a smoker. Nina was a diva. A diva living in an apartment, in a relatively crappy block of flats in Roosevelt Island, an island located on East River, where Nina resisted the temptation the jump off, not following the example of Paul Celan or Gherasim Luca, who took their own lives throwing themselves off into the Seine.

    Everything was damp in that area, save for her apartment, crammed with magazines, you could find vey many issues of the Literary Gazette and Literary Romania. The famous Paris Match issue of 1968 could also be found there, with an article of General de Gaulle’s visit to Bucharest.”

    Filmmaker Alexandru Solomon’s reminiscing Nina Cassian was also extremely emotional. During the launch event Alexandru Solomon also had a short film screened, a film he had made when he was a teenager. Captured in the shots taken in Vama Veche, there were Nina Cassian and his mother, painter and art history teacher Yvonne Hasan, together with the group of artists they were members of.

  • “Horror Vacui”

    “Horror Vacui”

    Between the 15th and the 22nd of February, the Galateca Art Gallery in the center of the capital hosted the longest theatrical event in the world: 7 days, 24 hours out of 24, 505 actors (3 actors per hour), 505 texts about emptiness and abandonment. The event was named “Horror Vacui” (translated as phobia of emptiness) and it was a worldwide theatrical first, made with the support of the Museum of Abandonment and Papercuts – an initiative for civic change. This theatrical performance aimed to carry out an emotional mediation and at the same time call for the recognition of a part of Romania’s traumatic past: the abandonment of children in our country and the history of this phenomenon in the communist period before 1989 and the post-communist one. Over 1 million children were abandoned during the communist regime, becoming victims of the system that turned them into “nobody’s children”. An initiative that aims to encourage social change through more cultural and civic resilience.

    The actor, playwright and initiator of the “Horror Vacui” project, Alexandru Ivănoiu, told us what was the inspiration behind the project:

    “A question I’ve been getting a lot lately and it seems like every day of performance brings a new answer. Today I’ve realized that I created this performance also for my fellow actors to be more connected, more united, to come to see each other beyond perhaps some sort of aesthetic or political differences between us. I was also curious, I think, and if we can rally more people around, minimum 500, around a single project, around an idea. At a time when it seems to me that it’s so easy to find differences and it’s even easier to turn those differences into very strong reasons not to hang out with someone or avoid someone at work. And I think that, sure, just as this whole dimension of abandonment is explored in every story, and as we explore the opposite of abandonment, I think that’s how we, as new artists, explore moments when what we do together is more important than what we do individually.”

    The texts used in the show-event “Horror Vacui” are based on testimonies and stories archived by the Museum of Abandonment or texts by contemporary authors. They outline a collective meditation on acknowledging the past and reconstructing the future. Moreover, this initiative aims to create an intimate and continuous space for dialogue in finding solutions.

    Alexandru Ivănoiu told us about the data used for the project:

    “We can talk about the at least 253 examples, testimonies, photos, materials that the people from the Abandonment Museum offered us to include in “Horror Vacui”. The other elements on which we based this performance are texts written by contemporary authors, and materials donated by other NGOs or other social and cultural actors who fight with abandonment. So it was a deployment of forces beyond the 505 actors. And based on the texts here too we thank and are deeply grateful to the Museum of Abandonment, because based on their archival work we managed to bring life to this performance.”

    The project was also faced with some challenges:

    “The main challenges, quite obviously, were those related to the schedule. It’s very difficult to fit the schedules of 500 actors and there was limited time, but at the same time, the paradox is that I don’t think there would’ve been a better time. So gathering 500 actors in two months is very difficult, but not impossible.”

    Alexandru Ivănoiu also told us about the aim of the „Horror Vacui” project:

    “What we want to achieve with this approach would be, first of all, certainly, a legislative change. There should be a commission to document and investigate the facts of abuse against institutionalized children from 1966 until 2007, something we Papercuts and the Museum of Abandonment and several other NGOs have been formally demanding. We want to research to have a document that clearly tells us how many, who and how. Because we believe that only on the basis of this act we could generate a change. And as far as rewards or other changes and punitive means, I think an acknowledgment is the biggest step toward healing, and it’s so simple to do.”

    Alexandru Ivănoiu also told us about the participants in the project and the audiences’ reaction to „Horror Vacui”:

    “In general, the people who participated in the project responded very positively. I mean, we enjoyed a network of open volunteers and actors, who also passed on information, spoke nicely about the idea, and I think that, in turn, they are messengers with us, of the mission we have. The reaction from the public has been very nice. I think the most uplifting thing is that we have audiences at 5 in the morning, at 4 in the morning. People wake up to see their friends, family, colleagues and then stay to see others. And during the night the same. It creates a little community, which is special.” (MI)

  • Digital Archaeology

    Digital Archaeology

    From last summer until the end of February this year, at the Bucharest Municipality Museum (BMM), on the premises of the Suțu Palace, the exhibition “Digital Archaeology. The Medieval Past of Bucharest from a Ceramic Perspective” is taking place. The exhibition represents a fascinating virtual journey into the past of the capital, in the city of Bucharest from the 15th to the 19th century. A new understanding of how daily life and the evolution of the city of Bucharest took place. The curator of the exhibition, Alina Streinu, talks to us about the exhibition and the project that was the basis of it:

    Track: “The exhibition was born as part of a project co-financed by AFCN, with the same theme, the medieval history of Bucharest from a ceramic perspective. The project was carried out in partnership with colleagues from the National Institute of Heritage, and the aim was to capitalize on ceramic discoveries from archaeological contexts in emblematic areas of Bucharest. Thus, we chose from the BMM heritage the vessels that we considered representative, which come from these urban sites, and which we believe nevertheless show something of the domestic life of Bucharesters in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.”

    What types of vessels were found during the archaeological excavations that formed the basis of the BMM exhibition? What is their provenance and what information do they bring us?

    “During the project, we noticed that most of the vessels, the ceramic objects discovered, are mainly kitchenware, cooking vessels, serving vessels. Kitchenware is, obviously, quite uniform, it is similar in many ways. But there are some extremely interesting differences, we say, regarding serving ceramics. For example, we have pitchers that are very similar to those used in the Ottoman Empire. We have beer mugs that are very similar to those used in the Germanic space. We have mineral water vessels and other small objects that come as imports and as a result of trade relations between the Romanian Countries and the great commercial powers of the time.”

    Alina Streinu also talks to us about the digital component of the exhibition at the Suțu Palace, namely the website mmb.cimec.ro, the digital catalog of archaeological research related to ceramics discovered in the capital. The archaeological research conducted by the BMM began in the 1950s and continues to this day, bringing to light objects that complete the written history of the city of Bucharest. Alina Streinu:

    “The project and the exhibition are also linked to the launch of a website at mmb.cimec.ro, where the results of this project are presented. There are images of 300 ceramic objects from the heritage of the Bucharest Municipality Museum, of which 150 were 3D scanned by colleagues from the National Institute of Heritage, and we also have images from the archive of the Bucharest Municipality Museum posted online on this site with archaeological research from the 50s, 60s, 70s from these urban archaeological landmarks in Bucharest.”

    About the intention behind the exhibition “Digital Archaeology” at BMM, curator Alina Streinu also tells us:

    “One of the driving ideas of this project and the exhibition was to attract a new audience, which is why we also used these new techniques for valorizing heritage, such as 3D technology for promoting heritage. Using these new techniques that we find absolutely relevant and important for the correct and coherent documentation of heritage objects, by approaching these new areas, we can also attract a younger audience. At the end of the project, we even had a workshop at the School of History, in which we presented all the materials that were part of this project, of the exhibition project, but the younger colleagues, the students, were extremely interested in this 3D part. How the 3D models were made and the whole back-end processing process. So there is a real interest from young specialists who we hope will remain in the field and with whom we will collaborate in the future for the evolution and development of these new techniques for documenting and promoting heritage.”

    At the end of our discussion, Alina Streinu reviewed the archaeological sites of the capital from which the objects of the BMM exhibition come:

    “Most of the vessels digitized and exhibited online and within the exhibition, which can still be visited at the Suțu Palace, come from research carried out in the perimeter of the streets of the current Old Center, the historical center of Bucharest, research coordinated largely by archaeologists from the Bucharest Municipality Museum, but also other research in areas such as Cotroceni Palace, Radu-Vodă Hill, and the Church of Saint Nicholas Udricani. The last excavation being among the most recent.”

  • FILMIKON International Film Festival

    FILMIKON International Film Festival

    The second edition of the FILMIKON International Film Festival has come up with a series of productions that have, throughout the years, been awarded by the ecumenical and inter-confessional juries as part of more than 30 film festivals worldwide. Also, the festival proposes a dialogue about Christian and human values, starting off from those productions.

     

    The inaugural edition of FILMIKON was held in Bucharest in 2024, yet the second edition was extended, being held in Iasi, Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, and The Vatican. FILMIKON is part of the Jubilee Year 2025 program. Ileana Bârsan is a film critic and the director of FILMIKON. We sat down and spoke to Ileana about the significance of the Ecumenical Jury Award, granted to feature films in the competition of such international film festivals worldwide, like the festival in Cannes or the one in Berlin.

     

    Ileana Bârsan: “The name of the award may lead us into thinking that the productions in point have a close connection with religion, yet the productions do not target the people who have a close connection with religion alone. The panel of the Ecumenical Jury is made of pundits jointly nominated by SIGNIS (World Catholic Association for Communication) and Interfilm (an international inter-confessional film organization) and the prize is an independent one, awarded to productions of these international festivals laying specific emphasis on human and Christian values, values that early into this century we kind of lost. These are films that attempt to make us a little bit more mindful towards the others whom, since we’re running out of time and since we fall short of interest and generosity, we sometime lose. Films that come up with their own individual stories but which, in the long run, convey a universal message. It was the FILMIKON festival’s eventual aim, that of bringing productions awarded by the judging panels that are particular about these themes of nuances, films we can offer to the Romanian public, thus generating discussions, even concerns that can go beyond the cinema halls. It is very important that these film stories lay special emphasis on serious issues and topics about which we learn in the newsreel programs. That is why, through these films, we somehow begin asking ourselves questions, looking at ourselves a little bit, even wondering what we can do here, in our community and suchlike. Because, globally speaking, or I don’t know… when it comes to politics in general, we are a bunch of small-timers and cannot control these things, but we can control what is close to us. “

     

    For the first time since 2024, the Transylvania International Film festival, TIFF, has established an Ecumenical Jury. Romanian film critic Ileana Bârsan was one of the members of the panel. ‘Summer Brother’ directed by Joren Molter, the disturbing story of two brothers, awarded with the Ecumenical Jury Prize at TIFF 2024 and also the adventure movie ‘I, Captain” (Io, Capitano, directed by Matteo Garrone), winner of the SIGNIS Prize, Venice 2023, a contemporary odyssey that overcomes the dangers of the desert, the horrors of Libyan detention centers and the dangers of the sea, were included in the second edition of the FILMIKON International Festival.

     

    FILMIKON also presented several Romanian films that address current issues or tell the stories of real characters, which can serve as models. Here is Ileana Bârsan, FILMIKON director, with details: “’Where elephants go’ is a Romanian film made by Gabi Virginia Șarga and Cătălin Rotaru, a film that received a Special Mention of the Ecumenical Jury, at TIFF 2024. It is the story of a child around whom some adults gravitate, who are more dazed and confused in their own life than the child himself. This kid, who has a medical problem, is full of hope and serenity and so full of life that he somehow manages to transform also the lives of others. The festival program also included the short film “Dead Cat” (directed by Ana-Maria Comănescu), which won the SIGNIS Award, TIFF 2024. “A mountain of love”, another Romanian film shown at FILMIKON, a very recent film, completed at the end of 2024, is directed by the priest Dan Suciu and has Bogdan Slăvescu as director of photography. It is a tribute film to a slightly different priest, who unfortunately died, Florentin Crihălmeanu. He was also the Greek-Catholic bishop of Cluj-Gherla between 2002 and 2021. They say he was an atypical priest, not only because he was very connected with people, especially the young, who considered him a spiritual leader, but he was also very passionate about mountaineering, so the film tells the story of his relationship with people and the mountain. And the last Romanian film from the FILMIKON 2 edition, made in 2019, “The Cardinal” by Nicolae Mărgineanu, is a film about the life of bishop Iuliu Hossu. A Greek-Catholic cardinal who meant a lot to the history of Romania, a hero of the Great Union, who was imprisoned in Sighet prison and ended up in forced residence. We are talking about a martyr’s path, unfortunately not unique in that period.”

     

    The Christus cine-concert and the film The Cardinal were also presented at the Vatican, as part of the program of the Jubilee Year 2025, on the occasion of the Social Communications Jubilee, held from January 24-26. The establishment of a jubilee year is a Catholic tradition of more than 700 years, which is repeated once every 25 years. (EN, LS)

  • The first Cantacuzins in the heritage of Bucharest’s Municipality Museum.

    The first Cantacuzins in the heritage of Bucharest’s Municipality Museum.

    A new documentary exhibition has been made available to visitors on the premises at Bucharest’s Municipality Museum. Playing host to the new exhibition in the Museum’s main building, the Sutu Palace, located in Bucharest’s City Center.

    The theme is “The first Cantacuzins in the heritage of Bucharest’s Municipality Museum”. The curator of the exhibition, Mihaela Rafaila of the Museum’s Modern and Contemporary History Compartment has revealed, for us, the underlying intention in staging the exhibition.

    „Through the temporary exhibition themed ‘The first Cantacuzins in the heritage of Bucharest’s Municipality Museum’ I intended to introduce to the lay public some certificates written on paper or on parchment, in the Slavonic and Romanian languages, with Cyrillic letters, where the members of this important family of the 17th and 18th centuries are mentioned in their capacity as witnesses, through the dignities they held as part of the Princely Council, but also through the selling-purchase acts they signed at that time or issuing charters or decrees, such as the case of ruling princes Serban and Stefan Cantacuzino. “

    The first of the great dignitaries, men of culture and even vaivodes who were members of this boyar family in Wallachia was court marshal Constantin Cantacuzino, who was born in 1598 and assassinated in 1663. He was the central figure as part of the exhibition hosted by the Bucharest Municipality Museum.

    „As an outcome of his being married to vaivode Radu Serban’s youngest daughter, princess Elina or Ilinca, as she was called around the house, Constantin Cantacuzino began his ascension according to Wallachia’s high-office positions scheme. Apart from his personal fortune, inherited and amassed, the court marshal benefitted from his wife’s dowry, which enabled him to have his 11 children, six boys and five daughters, relate to the most distinguished Moldavian and Wallachian families of boyars.

    Benefitting from a special education, court marshal Constantin Cantacuzino was a great lover of books. Having INTINSE economic and diplomatic relationships and also enjoying the respect especially from the ottomans, court marshal Cantacuzino at that time was known as vaivode Matei Basarab’s secret councillor, being a towering figure of Romanian politics in the 17th century.”

    Here is curator Mihaela Rafaila, briefly introducing to us the great dignitary’s wife, Elina Cantacuzino (1611-1687):

    “In turn, Elina proved her special qualities: she was forgiving of her husband’s murderers, tenacious in her bid to rescue the house after the disappearance of the family’s STALP, cautious in distributing the fortune among her children, loving towards the boys, whom she gently advised to have a truly brotherly relationship, manly because of the journey she took to the Holy Places. “

    What are the documents the Bucharest Municipality Museum exhibition brings before visitors, which are highly relevant for the history of this distinguished Romanian family ?

    “As part of the exhibition, the name of the founder of the Cantacuzino family in Wallachia, Constantin Cantacuzino, is mentioned for the first time in the act of June 8, 1626, in his capacity of witness of the Princely Council, the dignity he held being that of great court marshal. ”

    The exhibition themed The First Cantacuzins brings three volumes before the public, important for the history of Romanian culture. The exhibition lays special emphasis on the Bible of Bucharest, also known as the Bible of Serban Cantacuzino, the first complete translation of the Bible into Romanian, published in 1688.

    Mihaela Rafailă:

    „On display as part of the exhibition we also have three books ‘The Holy and Divine Gospel, composed following the structure of the Greek Gospel’, printed at the behest and with the financial support of ruler Serban Cantacuzino, in the year 1682. Then there is The Bible, also known as ‘The Bible of Bucharest’, as well as ‘The Political and Geographical History of Wallachia’, whose author was identified by the great historian Nicolae Iorga as being province governor Mihai Cantacuzino.

    Then again, speaking about the Bible of Bucharest, it represents the first complete translation of the Divine Writ, made at the command of the Most Kind-Hearted Christian and this our enlightened ruler Ioan Șerban Cantacuzino Vaivode. It was printed on filigree paper.

    The covers are wooden panels bound in leather, whose decoration was made through hot pressing. The editing of the Bible represented an important stage in the process of imposing the national language as liturgical language, at once being a reference monument of the printing press art of Wallachia. That once and for all set the path the ecclesiastical written language would take.

    The Bible was widely spread in the Romanian principalities, Wallachia, Moldavia and in Transylvania and even reached Poland, when a copy was given to former metropolitan bishop Dosoftei, who was in exile. Another copy was in the possession of Pope Benedict the 14th, the copy, as we speak, is kept in the Library of Bologna University. The displayed copy circulated in Transylvania, the counties of Alba and Hunedoara. “

  • Book.art.est

    Book.art.est

    The year 2025 begins with the launch of the ‘Book.art.est’ cultural project – an international and multidisciplinary exhibition dedicated to the book as an art object. The exhibition is hosted by the Calderon Art Studio Gallery in downtown Bucharest, from January 15 until February 8. Andreea-Eliza Petrov, representing the organizers from the Art Cell, spoke to us about the exhibition: “The ‘Book.art.est’ exhibition is an international project dedicated to the artistic book, viewed not only as a text carrier but as a unique art object, inspired by experimental art. This type of book combines visual aesthetics with conceptual approaches, being able to offer viewers an experience that goes beyond classic reading. The public will be able to explore a varied range of interpretations of the concept of the book as an art object here in Bucharest, being invited to look at the book as a complex artistic medium, in an artistic state.”

     

    What is the concept and target of this project? “’Book.art.est’ aims to explore the book as a fundamental component of culture and to highlight its valences as a cultural and aesthetic symbol, stimulating the public’s interest in reading and art, exploring the written text and understanding it as a syncretic expression. The exhibition aims to challenge the public’s perception of what a book means, and also of what art itself means.”

     

    Next Andreea Petrov tells us how we can look at the book from the perspective of the ‘Book.art.est’ exhibition, the book as an art object: “A book is a work of art per se, not just a medium for transmitting information. Its shape is an integral part of its concept, being created for a variety of reasons. Each element, the words, the images, the structure, the printing method, the binding, the materials used, from textiles, paper to marble, for example, even the closing system of the book, all play an important role in conveying the overall message. It is interactive, portable and easy to share. It can be considered a means of making art more accessible to people outside the formal contexts of galleries or museums. This type of book-object has evolved a lot over time, drawing inspiration from avant-garde movements such as Dadaism, Constructivism and Futurism.”

     

    Andreea Petrov also told us about the artists participating in the exhibition and what book-objects they propose: “The exhibition features a variety of artists, painters, sculptors, collage makers, illustrators, printers, writers and poets. ‘Book.art.est’ aims to support the new generations of artists, encouraging the presentation of emerging artists alongside established ones. The artists come from Romania and Poland, the exhibition including works by students of the Academy of Arts in Wrocław. Catching the eye are installations, illustrations, sketchbooks, photo albums, collages, books with different interventions, be they chromatic or collage-type and not only. The curators of the exhibition are Evghenia Gritsku and Daniel Loagăr who are also exhibitors.”

     

    The artists were chosen following an open call for applications. Andreea Petrov from the Art Cell gives us more details: “The open call first of all had a major role in attracting the participating artists, who have a wide range of specializations. The selection of artists was a challenge because the notion of book-object is quite broad. The works of the selected artists include multiple and complex valences of the concept of book as an object, but they are simultaneously and very clearly associated with this concept.”

     

    What other events does ‘Book.art.est’ propose? “Nine related events have been planned within ‘Book.art.est’. They started with a poetry recital on January 15, supported by Dar-avere. Other events include: a conference on Copyright in art, a Dada poetry workshop, a collage workshop, a performance, two masterclasses on public reading and public discourse respectively, community walks with audiobooks and a presentation of book-objects from an editorial perspective.”

     

    The ‘Book.art.est’ project is the beginning of an initiative to promote reading in unconventional ways, an initiative started by the “Macondo” Intermittent Reading Society. Mircea Laslo from the Society spoke to us about this initiative: “The ‘Macondo’ Intermittent Reading Society wishes to make a book club, a different reading club, in which there is no need for predetermined reading lists, deadlines or for people to speak in public and express critical opinions about the book they read. These are all the things that book-club-goers are often looking for, but they are intimidating for many of us. This format associates reading with activities that make us anxious, and we wanted to create a framework for associating reading with every-day things that don’t require planning, that we don’t think about in the same way in which we often approach reading, that is as if it were a much more serious issue than a lot of other things we do every day.” (LS)

  • “Dream. Life / Imaginary Youth”, a documentary by Ruxandra Gubernat

    “Dream. Life / Imaginary Youth”, a documentary by Ruxandra Gubernat

    Directed by Ruxandra Gubernat, “Dream. Life / Imaginary Youth”, is the first Romanian observational documentary that aims to present the realities, aspirations and challenges of young people from Generation Z.

    Having worked on impactful social and cinema projects, director Ruxandra Gubernat manages to capture, with empathy, the way young people relate to the world around them and face challenges, as well as how they build their identity in an ever-changing society. Shooting the production took four years and captured the lives of the main characters, who went through a difficult period of transition, including the two years of the pandemic in which classes were held online and people were forced to isolate themselves.

     

    Ruxandra Gubernat told us how her interest in Generation Z was born and how she documented the subject: “My journey unfolded between Romania and France, where I lived for 7 years. Between 2008 and 2015 I went to study in France, but after that I returned. And then I realized that I was left with a lot of questions related to this option of leaving Romania. Obviously, I knew that there are a lot of people who leave Romania for various reasons. The reasons could be economic, as it happened with people who chose to leave at the end of the 90s, the beginning of the 2000s. Others chose to leave after joining the EU, because it had become much easier to emigrate and study in another country, as was my case.  Finally, for many there was also the need for knowledge, one of the reasons that I discovered in generation Z. That’s how I started asking myself more about this generation and its options, to wonder if most of them would choose to leave or stay in Romania. I read many studies at the time, which showed that a lot of young people, approximately 80%, were considering leaving, and over 25% were actually leaving Romania. That’s how I started my research, talking to young people. I went to Timișoara, Cluj, Bacău, Brașov, Ploiești, Bucharest, Târgu Jiu and I got in touch with very different teenagers and a lot of them said they wanted to leave the country. In this context, I started filming.”

     

    While making plans to leave Romania after finishing high school, Una – an actress, Habet – a trapper and Ștefania – an environmental activist, find themselves caught between dramas and dilemmas related to the future. Ruxandra Gubernat’s documentary follows them in their relationship with their family, school, and society.

     

    The director tells us more about how she chose the three teenagers after doing extensive documentation: “As I was saying, I went to many places in the country to find out as much as possible about what it means to be a teenager. Some of those initially selected gave up because they didn’t feel they could carry out a long-term process. I had to give up on others. But with Habet, Una and Ștefania, a special relationship was built and we managed to carry out a process that meant a lot to them, I met them when they were 16 and we finished filming after they turned 20, meaning we went through their entire adolescence together. And I felt that the three of them are good on camera, both individually and together. I mean, they are a very suitable combination to illustrate what it means to respond to social pressure, interest in the environment and what is happening around, in general. Because they are all three very active and very different people at the same time. Ștefania, for example, was leading the Fridays for Future protests in Romania when the movement had become global and that seemed to me to be a very important area. Habet was doing social theater in Ferentari, and Una, together with her theater-loving colleagues, was staging a play about leaving Romania. Through their concerns, they touched on both local and general themes and challenges. They talked about immigration, about class, about all the problems we go through as a society, but also about their problems. More than that, the relationship I managed to establish with each of them was very important and the fact that we managed to be honest with each other was very important. That’s how we got closer and accepted each other. Because in the end, this film was a 4-year process and you have to be honest with your expectations and those of others. Without that, it is not possible and would not have been an authentic story.”

     

    “Dream. Life / Imaginary Youth”, was included in the official selection of the One World Romania International Documentary Film and Human Rights Festival, the Astra Film International Documentary Film Festival and the Moldox International Documentary Film Festival for Social Change. Ruxandra Gubernat also co-directed “Portavoce/Megaphone“ (2018), a medium-length documentary that traces the evolution of a culture of protest in Romania, developing in recent years, through the voices and opinions of key actors involved.

     

  • The Moromete Family: Father and Son – the   end of the trilogy inspired by Marin Preda   

    The Moromete Family: Father and Son – the   end of the trilogy inspired by Marin Preda   

    Stere Gulea’s The Moromete Family: Father and Son was one of the most anticipated Romanian feature films of 2024. It marks the final episode in a unique trilogy in Romanian cinematography, inspired by the life and works of Romanian novelist Marin Preda. The first film was launched in 1988, a quite accurate adaptation of the first volume of the novel The Moromete Family. Screened in 2018, the sequel, The Moromete Family: On the Edge of Time draws on the second volume, Life as Prey as well as on Marin Preda’s literary articles. Written by Stere Gulea, the final part of the trilogy was inspired by Marin Preda’s private journals, as well as documents and archives that helped rebuild the mood of the 1950s, a time of great social and ideological upheaval, also marked by the coming to power of the Communist Party, which soon became the only official party in Romania. The Moromete Family: Father and Son picks up where the second film left off, telling the story of Niculae, Ilie Moromete’s youngest-born, who is now a successful writer. A persona of the author himself, Niculae is disappointed with his father’s political beliefs and by other writers who are forced to abide by ideological constraints. The film also dwells on two major artists who made a powerful impression on Marin Preda’s career: Nina Cassian and Aurora Cornu. “The film traces Marin Preda’s behavior and attitudes at the time in various political contexts. I’ve tried to understand and retrace his remarkable journey through fiction. I very much liked the idea of making a film about that period which is now largely passed into oblivion”, filmmaker Stere Gulea said.

     

    Olimpia Melinte plays Vera Solomon, a character inspired by Nina Cassian. We’ve asked her to tell us more about the changes operated to Stere Gulea’s script and how she researched her part in the film, given that Nina Cassian was a multi-faceted artist, at times both accomplice and troublemaker for the Stalinist regime of the time.

     

    “It all started with a casting. I met Stere Gulea, and as I got to learn more about the script and his expectations, I eventually concluded that it was fate that I should portray this character. On the physical side, there’s little resemblance between Nina Cassian and I. What we do have in common is a passion for poetry, music, drawing and painting, as Nina Cassian really loved the fine arts. She was an accomplished artist, and I think her passion helped her overcome that very difficult time in her life, when for a long time she chose to sing instead of write, due to the complicated political context. Her passion for the arts was what struck a powerful impression in me. As for the research, I spent a lot of time talking to and rehearsing with Stere Gulea. I also read Nina’s journals, the interviews she gave, everything I could find online about her. Obviously, that included the documentary on Nina Cassian, “The distance between myself and I”, directed by Mona Nicoară and Dana Bunescu, I found it really helpful. It helped me to understand this artist better, because I must confess I was a little prejudiced against her. But all my preconceptions vanished as soon as I started working, because I really wanted to understand Nina deeply and intimately, as other people had failed to do, and as she can be understood towards the end of her life, thanks to the documentary I mentioned. There were times when Nina Cassian would put away her public persona, when she allowed herself to live this love story with Marin Preda, a love that is hard to put into words.”

     

    Olimpia Melinte also told us how the relationship between Marin Preda and Nina Cassian was reconstructed in the movie.

     

    “We haven’t set out to provide explanations, because in life it is not always that one gets to explain oneself. Or maybe many years later, when two people reconnect, they get to explain some things. As far as our characters go, we’ve tried to reconstruct their relationship using their diaries, and we wanted our reconstruction to be as close as possible to how things actually went. It was tremendous work for all of us, because the script got changed many, many times, new scenes were introduced as we went, because Mr. Gulea kept working the whole time. Sometimes we would find a new scene introduced right on the day of the shot. For instance, the story of Marin Preda and Nina Cassian was not a major direction in the original script, when we started rehearsing. But I think it gained weight as we progressed with our work, and I’m glad it did, because it was quite important in their lives.”

     

    Apart from Olimpia Melinte, the cast includes some of the most highly appreciated Romanian actors. Alex Călin plays Niculae Moromete and Horaţiu Mălăele plays Ilie Moromete for the second time in his career. In The Moromete Family 3, the public will also see Mara Bugarin, Răzvan Vasilescu, Iulian Postelnicu, Cătălin Herlo, Dana Dogaru, Toma Cuzin, Ana Ciontea, Laurențiu Bănescu, Conrad Mericoffer, Ioan Andrei Ionescu, Andreea Bibiri, Ilinca Hărnuț, Dorina Chiriac and Oana Pellea.

     

    Cristian Niculescu was in charge with the set design, and Dana Păpăruz did the costume design. The cinematographer was Vivi Drăgan Vasile, Alexandra Gulea did the editing, Ioan Filip and Dan-Ștefan Rucăreanu did the sound design, and Cristian Lolea wrote the score for the movie.

     

    The Moromete Family 3 was screened in many national film festivals (TIFF, TIFF Chișinău, Romanian Film Nights (Serile Filmului Românesc) – Iași, Film in the Village (Film in Sat) – Peștișani, TIFF Timișoara), and won the audience award at the 2024 Transylvania International Film Festival (TIFF). (VP, AMP)

  • The “EIKON” Exhibition

    The “EIKON” Exhibition

    The National Museum of History of Romania (MNIR) in late November inaugurated the exhibition “EIKON. Conservation and restoration of wood painting”. The exhibition brings to the public icons on wood and the general issue of conservation and restoration of wood paintings from the Museum collections. The exhibition displays both restored objects and the technological flow that an object goes through, from restoration to exhibition. We spoke to restorer Maria Popa about the exhibition and the steps the Museum is taking to bring restoration to the attention of the general public:

     

    “The ‘EIKON’ exhibition is the first exhibition of wood painting restoration organized at the National Museum of History of Romania. Restoration is a topic the museum wants to bring to the attention of the public as often as possible, because, before reaching the showcase, the items go through the restoration workshop for a brief check. The National Museum of History of Romania has in the past hosted other exhibitions on the conservation and restoration of heritage items on different types of supports. Last year, in the same space where we have the ‘EIKON’ exhibition today, there was an exhibition on restoration of old books and documents”.

     

    Maria Popa told us more about the concept of this exhibition:

     

    “The concept behind the exhibition was a desire to present to the public some of the activities that takes place in the wood painting restoration workshop.”

     

    Restorer Maria Popa told us which pieces or exhibits can be seen in the exhibition, how they were restored and what other elements visitors can see.

     

    “The exhibition includes 12 pieces, 11 from the collections of the National Museum of History and one from a private collection. Most of the items are from the Russian, Lipovan school, and were manufactured between the 18th and 20th centuries. They reached the restoration workshop with various problems, from dirt deposits on the surface, areas of charring caused by the heat released by the candles that were placed too close, cracks in the framework panels, or areas where the painting was no longer preserved. The centerpiece of the exhibition is an imperial icon depicting Saint Hierarch Nicholas from the area of ​​Northern Transylvania or Maramureș. Over the years, it underwent two separate repainting processes, and when it arrived at our workshop, it had a different painting than the one you can see in the exhibition. The decision to remove the previous work done was due to the quality being poor both aesthetically and technically, and the painting brought to light following these restoration interventions is much superior to the original. You can see both the final result and the images from the restoration operations in the ‘EIKON’ exhibition. Within the exhibition there is an area that recreates a restoration workshop, with all the materials, tools and protective gear restorers use during the conservation and restoration process. Also in this area, you can see videos of the restoration of pieces on display. In one of the showcases, we have three icons on display that are in different stages of restoration, starting with the removal of deposits from the surface, filling gaps in the frame, and chromatic integration of missing areas”.

     

    Another Museum restorer, Marian Radu, specializes in wood frameworks. He told us more about the restoration process and its particularities:

     

    “In the field of conservation and restoration, the purpose of the intervention is to preserve movable and immovable heritage. Cultural goods are notable for their great diversity in terms of composition, structure, morphology, size, appearance, color, functionality and, obviously, value. The degradation factors that act on cultural goods are the physical-chemical factors and, last but not least, the human factor. Knowing all that, we can also learn more about the degradations that take place at the level of the wooden frame”.

     

    Marian Radu also told us about the panel of wood icons presented in the “EIKON” exhibition:

     

    “The panel is reinforced with two parallel crossbars of different directions, semi-retracted, inserted into the wood fiber, with a trapezoidal profile. By inserting the crossbars, the icon is made using the dovetail system. The crossbars play a very important role in the resistance structure of the panel … Considering these icons are two to three hundred years old, they have suffered various degradations over time… All of these will make the restoration process very difficult”.

     

    At the end of our talk, restorer Marian Radu told us the following about the “EIKON” exhibition:

     

    “The profession of restorer is less known in Romania, but by means of this exhibition, which is a premiere for the National Museum of History of Romania, I hope I have managed to pique the curiosity of the public to come to the museum, where they can see and better understand the fruit of our work over the past few years.” (VP)

  • Ceramic restoration

    Ceramic restoration

    The Suțu Palace, which is home to the Museum of the City of Bucharest, and located in the city centre, has staged an exhibition entitled “The World of Ceramic Restoration”, dedicated to the less visible part of ceramic exhibits. The objects made of ceramic material created by potters are not simple useful, functional containers, but distinct pieces, which through form, decoration and texture, enter into a spiritual dialogue with the viewer and are able, today and in the past, to trigger pleasure, delight and attachment. The passage of time leaves its mark on their appearance and integrity. This is where the restorer comes in, bringing the objects, through research and scientific restoration procedures, back to their original appearance and so that they can be exhibited in public. We spoke to the curator of the exhibition, restorer Mihaela Ciobanu, about the challenges she faces in her work:

    “The restorer's challenges arise from the moment the objects enter the restoration lab, from research through to the completion of the restoration process. Each ceramic object requires a unique approach, depending on the deterioration that has occurred as a result of the passage of time.”
What is the primary responsibility of a ceramic restorer?
“The restorer has a great responsibility to apply appropriate restoration procedures to save the ceramic objects.”
What exactly does the restoration process entail and what is its final goal? Restorer  Mihaela Ciobanu tells us more:

    “The destructive action of nature or man is removed by the restorer with patience, talent, seriousness and high professional conscientiousness, so as to restore the original shape, colour and appearance of the object.“

    In order to understand the ceramic restoration process in more detail, restoration expert Mihaela Ciobanu gives us a brief overview of the steps of this painstaking and delicate process:

    “The first step that the restorer takes is to study the processing of clay and its manufacturing methods. Throughout history, the craft of working with clay has evolved from modelling by hand, and using the potter’s wheel to industrial techniques for making ceramic objects. Starting from the quality of the clay, its composition, the modelling technology or the firing process, the restorer can determine methods of approaching certain treatments in the restoration process, using materials and substances compatible with the ceramic material in question. Determining the deterioration of the object is achieved through several types of investigations. Chemical investigations are carried out by fellow investigators who determine, through various methods, the nature of deposits that endanger the integrity of the object. Where appropriate, the restorer studies these reports and, together with the physical investigations made microscopically or macroscopically, determines the state of preservation and the diagnosis of the researched object. Professional restoration work is based on scientific research, principles and methodologies with application to all kinds of cultural goods. As I said earlier, the first stage of the restoration process is the research, followed by the physico-chemical assessments, the establishment of the deterioration factors and up to the conservation status of the objects. The accumulated information helps us in the next stage, that of diagnosis and the proposal of appropriate treatment methods. After that, the chemical treatments to remove deposits begin; the identification of objects where the object is in a fragmentary state; gluing them with adhesives specific to ceramic paste; completing the missing areas with compatible materials; chromatic integrations on filled areas and final conservation. From the desire to be up to speed with the new methods and materials and modern techniques, the restorer has a great responsibility to know what to use in the restoration process, in order to adopt the most appropriate treatment. In the therapy of the object restoration process, the passage of time leaves its mark on the appearance and integrity of ceramic objects.”

    The "World of Ceramic Restoration" exhibition at the Museum of the City of Bucharest painted a portrait of the restoration of heritage ceramic objects, a portrait summarized by Mihaela Ciobanu as follows:

    “Restoring ceramics aims to preserve tangible evidence for future generations as long as possible. The purpose of this exhibition is to show the entire journey of an object, from its discovery to its display in the museum. Through the unique theme of this exhibition, I hope that visitors will learn about the challenges of restorers in the face of the relentless passage of time.”

  • The Casa Radio Publishing House at the Gaudeamus Book Fair

    The Casa Radio Publishing House at the Gaudeamus Book Fair

    Unique on the domestic book market, the Casa Radio Publishing House capitalizes on the largest collection of media content in Romania, whether it’s the existing sound archive or working towards the creation of a future archive. More than 30 collections and series of books, CDs and books with built-in CD are devoted to the most appreciated radio products in literature and journalism, theatre and music. Collections such as "Romanian Poetry Library" and "Gold Audio Library / Poetry Show", "Gold Audio Library / Theater", the collections for children "Radio-Prichindel" and "Good night, children!", but also the music collections  "Maestro", "Radiolegends" and "Interpretive profile" are just a few of the brands of the Casa Radio Publishing House that have established themselves on the book market.
During the Gaudeamus Book Fair, organised by Radio Romania between December 4-8, a fair that featured hundreds of publishing events and tens of thousands of titles, many of them newly launched, the Casa Radio Publishing House also provided its readers with new products, including two for young listeners, as part of the "Radio-Prichindel" and "Good night, children!" collections. The new releases were accompanied by workshops on the art of comics and diction and communication. Ligia Necula, producer at Casa Radio Publishing House, tells us more:
“The audiobook is no longer a new product on the Romanian publishing market, but we at Casa Radio Publishing House are proud to have introduced this product to the local market.  Most such products released by the Casa Radio Publishing House contain both illustration and the audio content, namely a CD, containing either radio theater performances or recordings of poets reading from their own work on Radio Romania. All these recordings have been preserved. And it is our joy to be able to bring the voices of these writers to the public. Linked to the two collections dedicated to children, Radio Prichindel and Good night, children!, we also staged special events for children and adults alike. The latest releases in the Radio-Prichindel" and "Good night, children!" collections launched at the Gaudeamus Fair include an audio book, "The Brave Sparrow and Golden Apples", by Petre Ispirescu, and the 19th volume in the Fairy Tales of the World series. “Prâslea the brave and the golden apples" is a graphic novel, because, in the case of the "Radio Prichindel" collection, we, at the Casa Radio Publishing House, decided to turn the stories into comic strips, especially for children who are now learning to read. And I can say that it is a welcome choice, the illustrations help children in the learning process, so they read more easily and gain courage. This graphic novel bears the signature of Alexandru Ciubotariu, who is also the coordinator of the Radio-Prichindel Collection.”
Under the title ALGO-RITM, the musician Mădălina Pașol brings together on a new album a collection of piano miniatures by famous composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Robert Schumann, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms, Richard Wagner, Claude Debussy, Ottorino Respighi, Edvard Grieg, Serghei Rachmaninov, Dinu Lipatti and Tudor Dumitrescu. Tiberiu Comandașu, music editor at Casa Radio Publishing House, explains: 
“Through this album, the musician is speaking both to her fans and to those who know less about her teaching activity, because Mădălina Pașol is a very popular piano teacher for children. That is why the CD we are talking about is very suitable for a young audience, bringing together very well-known piano miniatures, but also new scores, so me of which have been discovered recently. One such example at an opus by Beethoven is the piece Lustig und Traurig, or a piano page by Wagner or an album page by Brahms. It is a recently discovered work that was noted down by the composer in a guest book in his youth while on a trip. Instead of leaving his signature or a few words, he wrote down this short score which he then developed into the work that is included on this album.”
The Gaudeamus Book Fair also saw the launch by the Casa Radio Publishing House hosted of the three famous comedies written by Ion Luca Caragiale: "A stormy night", "A lost letter" and "Carnival Night", audiobook, book and CD format, as part of the Golden Tape Library/Theatre collection, Caragiale series, and again feature Alexandru Ciubotariu's illustrations and famous radio theater recordings from 1951 and 1952, staged by director Sică Alexandrescu. Another highlight was a re-issue of the successful audiobook Dance by the poet Nina Cassian (1924 – 2014), but with new poems read by the author and an interview about her life, work and emigratig. An avant-garde poet, composer and graphic artist, Nina Cassian was simultaneously complicit and problematic for the Stalinist regime, after which she came into direct conflict with the Ceauşescu regime and fled to New York, in an unwanted exile, where she passed away in 2014.
  • Bianca Boeroiu, an Emmy Award Winner

    Bianca Boeroiu, an Emmy Award Winner

    Bianca Boeroiu, one of the most famous Romanian make-up artists, won the 2023 Emmy Award for Best Contemporary Make-up.

     

    She received the prestigious award for the make-up created for the series Wednesday, directed by Tim Burton, produced by Netflix and shot in Romania, with several Romanian artists and technicians as part of the team. Bianca has put her signature on numerous commercials and videos, and has ended up collaborating with famous actors such as Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton or John Malkovich. In Romania, she already has 3 GOPO awards and 9 nominations for films such as “When I Want to Whistle, I Whistle”, “Loverboy”, “A Step Behind the Seraphim”, “Happy Funerals”, “Aferim” and others. Bianca Boeroiu told us how she became involved in the making of the “Wednesday” series: “The collaboration with Tim Burton came after an interview I gave with the designer of this project. That’s how I ended up working in the team that did the actors’ make-up, along with colleagues from England and colleagues from Romania. I did the make-up for numerous characters, most of Wednesday’s colleagues, I’m referring especially to those from Nevermore Academy. I also did the make-up for the mayor of the city and that of a very important character, Eugene, one of the strangest students of Nevermore Academy and the president of the school’s beekeeping club. In fact, almost all the characters in this series had the make-up done by me, obviously excluding the famous actors who were taken care of by the designer of this project and the protagonist of the series, Jenna Ortega, who had her own make-up. As regards preparations for a project of this type, the director already has a vision for the characters. Of course, we also read the script, we have production meetings, then tests. If it is a period production, it is an extra challenge for us, but also for a contemporary film, as the make-up is very important. In the case of the “Wednesday” series, the characters were quite well outlined by the designer and director Tim Burton, but we also had our share of contribution.”

     

    Earlier this year, Bianca Boeroiu participated in the Emmy Awards ceremony: “I managed to get there and I am very glad that I did. It was an extraordinary experience, I hope to have the opportunity to get to such events again. Due to this award, I travelled for the first time to the United States of America, to Los Angeles, and I found it fascinating. I stayed for almost a week and met with friends and colleagues who are make-up specialists, with whom I have collaborated on other projects in Romania. It was an intense and emotional experience, I will never forget the moment when they pronounced “Wednesday” on stage, because the result is not known in advance, it is like at the Gopo Awards, when you open the envelope you find out if you have won or not. And this award really does increase your visibility. I have worked in international productions before, mostly European, I also had a Disney collaboration and I am open to other such proposals.”

     

    Ceramic art teacher, Bianca Boeroiu has been working for over 20 years at the National Children’s Palace in Bucharest and is currently working on a course support for these ceramics classes: “I graduated from the National University of Arts in Bucharest, Ceramics – Decorative Arts department and, immediately after graduating from college, I took this teaching position at the National Children’s Palace, something that I love doing and something I would never give it up, no matter how many offers I would receive as a make-up artist. It’s an area where I feel really good, children really give you an extraordinary energy and a lot of satisfaction. I have been attracted to make-up since I was little and a friend gave me this suggestion, to take a course in this direction. At first I was a little skeptical, I admit, I didn’t even know that there was a department at the University of Arts where you could learn this specialization. After I discovered it, things came naturally, that is, I did everything with great pleasure and enthusiasm and that’s how things came together. Since then I have been almost always involved in projects of this type, at first mostly Romanian, after which international collaborations followed.”

     

    Bianca Boeroiu is also a member of the Union of Plastic Artists of Romania, her works winning the Debut Award in Ceramics at the Fire Arts Biennial.

  • Taste, refinement and socialising in early 20th century Bucharest

    Taste, refinement and socialising in early 20th century Bucharest

    Hosted by the Filipescu-Cesianu Museum in Bucharest, the exhibition entitled “Taste, refinement and socialising in early 20th century Bucharest” is aimed at reconstructing fragment of daily life, namely the dining ritual, among the Bucharest elite under the influence of profound cultural transformations, between the strict ceremony from before the First World War to the more relaxed approach from the inter-war period.

     

    Andreea Mâniceanu, one of the curators of the exhibition, told us more the rules of etiquette among the Bucharest society at the start of the 20th century: “In the first part of the 20th century, the etiquette and lifestyle of the Bucharest high society were marked by a series of distinct elements, such as the western influence, for many of its members were educated abroad, especially in France, which led to the adoption of western manners and lifestyle. The fashion, the architecture and social habits all reflected these tendencies.”

     

    Andreea Mâniceanu also spoke to us about the fashion of the day:  “The Bucharest high society also paid special attention to clothing. Men used to wear elegant suits after the latest fashion inspired by the trends in western Europe, while women used to wear very elegant dresses, often created by fashion houses. Moreover, the balls and receptions were important opportunities for showing off this elegance.”

     

    The exhibition also shows the public the lifestyle of the Bucharest high society in the first half of the 20th century in terms of habitation and social life: “The residence of the Bucharest high society in the first part of the 20th century were often located in central areas like Calea Victoriei and Cotroceni and had an eclectic architecture that combined Neoclassical, Art Nouveau and Romanian Revival styles. Their residents attended balls, receptions and dinners given at the Royal Palace and other sumptuous residences. The cafes, clubs and fancy restaurants like Capșa were meeting places for politicians, aristocrats and artists. The exhibition ‘Taste, Refinement and Socialising’ explores the transition and mutual influences between lifestyle and living space in the pre-war and interwar periods, emphasizing the dynamic between exterior and interior. In the pre-war period, the aristocratic lifestyle was defined by opulence and a sophistication that was visible in the architecture and interior design of homes. There was a strong external influence, especially regarding the interior design of spaces inspired by Western models and artistic trends such as the Baroque. The houses reflected a lifestyle oriented towards show and social status, and the interior spaces were designed to impress guests. The furniture, decorations and materials used in the pre-war houses expressed this relationship of continuity between exterior and interior grandeur. Through this alternation between exterior-interior and interior-exterior dynamics, the exhibition emphasizes how the social and economic changes of the two periods influenced the perception and organization of the home space in the pre-war period. The interior space was a reflection of the exterior world, social hierarchies and etiquette, while in the interwar period interior changes in everyday life and aesthetic preferences began to shape the way in which exterior space was perceived and organized.”

     

    Andreea Mâniceanu also tells us about the cultural life of the era: “The Bucharest elite also had a close connection with the cultural scene. Opera, theater and art exhibitions were appreciated by this social class. Moreover, patronage of art and literature was a way for elites to display their prestige.”

     

    How does the exhibition at Casa Filipescu-Cesianu present the dynamics of transformations in Bucharest society in the first half of the 20th century? “The exhibition ‘Taste, refinement and socializing in early 20th century Bucharest conveys the message of an evolution from a society centered on status and show to a functional, individualistic one, where privacy and personal comfort begin to prevail over ostentation and social grandeur.” (CM, LS)

  • The Breakup

    The Breakup

    “The Breakup” is an emotional performance built on a modern understanding of romantic breakups, a show that had its national premiere at the Mobius Gallery in Bucharest, after its presentation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The production is made by a group of European artists led by director Ioana Păun. Ioana Păun is a director who focuses her work on human behavior in challenging situations. The director told us about the team of creators of the show:

    “The initial team was made up of artists from Slovakia and I made a pilot with something completely different from what is seen now in Romania. In February it was ultra hyper interactive. Basically, two spectators were breaking up with each other without knowing each other, in this type of instruction of ours. I didn’t like what came out, and I went back to some, let’s say safer, performative expressions, which were more handy. I wanted to speak emotionally to an audience about what a special moment means to each of us, not just to me, “The Breakup”. … And the team in Bratislava had a core that was me and the set designer Matěj Sýkora. We were doing a kind of ping-pong of ideas. “How could we” or “how could I” represent or infuse, or provoke the audience to feel something as close as possible to what happens to them when they love each other and then break up? And I had one fixation, one thing that interested me was to expose the audience to two people kissing and discovering each other for the first time. A kind of first kiss that we have all experienced and then to find other similar actions that would continue this emotional journey.”

    “The Breakup” is a discreet and intense experience, created to generate reflection on how we have experienced our relationships as a couple. Why “The Breakup”? Ioana Păun tells us:

    “It was a subject that interested me, because, actually, personally speaking, I had a hard time handling it. That is, someone leaving your life or you leaving someone else’s life, especially romantically, but not only, the end of a relationship.”

    Director Ioana Păun and her team explore a territory where the boundaries between feeling and technological progress are becoming increasingly blurred. We talked to Ioana Păun about the performance, how the performance was received by the audience:

    “You can’t know exactly what each person feels, even if you talk to them. How was it received? I’ll tell you how it was received. In Slovakia, we filmed Bratislava and smaller cities, there were young people, elderly people, I don’t know, millennials. The young people were very fiery, and caught up in the idea and desire to express their own experiences and to probe themselves. That’s what I saw from the answers. Well, the audience interacts twice. We saw ourselves in the willingness to answer as much and as broadly as possible, and to somehow expose oneself, even if it’s anonymous. So this young audience, and by young I mean 18, 25, 26 years old, I saw a joy in probing some searches, some emotional experiences that they may face ultra frequently, in a way, I don’t know culturally how.”

    The show offers the audience two QR codes through which they can get involved and interact. Director Ioana Păun tells us more about the audience interaction:

    “Yes, it’s a kind of link that you receive on your phone, which you respond to. And your response is then, in one way or another, integrated into the show or made public, even if it’s anonymous. It’s a small audience, around ten people. I’ve had shows with four people, I’ve had shows with seventeen people. It worked best when there are around 10 people. A kind of community is created, and there are several moments in the show where the audience does, or completes, or says, or somehow leaves it up to us. And in a minimal way. So it’s a very simple show, there’s no complexity. They reacted differently, in each show it was different. Sometimes they were extraordinarily involved, depending on their mood, or what was born at that moment. Their pulse, the actresses feel the audience, but they don’t change their tempo, they don’t change their actions depending on the availability, or how interested, or involved, or bored the audience feels. So this question of “how is it received” is very difficult for me to ever answer.”