EUNIC Romania

The European-Chinese Cultural Dialogue, which took place in Bucharest between 15-17 October 2014, was a success. This is what the participants of the sixth edition concluded, following three intense days of events. The dialogue, which is organized on an annual basis by EUNIC in collaboration with the Chinese Academy of Arts, was coordinated this year by the Romanian Cultural Institute.

The theme of the 6^th European-Chinese Cultural Dialogue, “Public Spaces – EU and China Sharing Perspectives”, is of particular contemporary relevance due to the world’s process of rapid urbanization. The outlook of future cities represents a major challenge for both Europeans and the Chinese.

The participants amounted to over one hundred architects, artists, and decision-makers in cultural policies from Europe and China. They discussed the possibilities of artists making public spaces more dynamic by endowing them with novel values and meanings, and by involving citizens. Other issues that stood out during the proceedings featured: the economic, cultural and social weight of such participatory attitudes towards public spaces; the creation of sustainable cities; creative images and visions about future urban spaces.

“Your presence here, in Bucharest, convinced me that everything is possible when multiple determined inclinations converge, as they are driven by the most generous of intentions,” declared Lilian Zamfiroiu, the President of the Romanian Cultural Institute, the host of the event.

“Nowadays, 70 percent of China’s population lives in cities, thus facing an array of problems typical of such environments: traffic, pollution, etc. These issues must be solved,” said professor Don Ya from Tianjin University. He also made a remark on Bucharest having many buildings similar to those from China in the 1950s, the so-called matchbox-type apartment buildings. “I am not sure if available solutions are similar in Europe and China, but we discovered that many of the problems are,” noticed Liviu Jicman, the vice-president of the Romanian Cultural Institute.

Moreover, Mary McCarthy, the event’s curator and director of the National Sculpture Factory in Cork (Ireland), underlined at the end of the three days that “the dialogue among artists is different from that of politicians. It often is more efficient. In Bucharest, we pursued genuine and open interactions, which triggered numerous ideas.”

The organizers of the event emphasized that one of the most important accomplishments of the 6^th edition of the European-Chinese Cultural Dialogue, was the program of residencies in the European cities of Vienna, Linz, Berlin, Stockholm, Bruxelles, and Cork. During one month, seven artists from China and Hong Kong experienced new creative opportunities and shared, in Bucharest, their findings. One of them, architect Bu Bing from Shanghai told the story of Strömbrom, a bridge in Stockholm that has pillars at varying elevations. “It is a fitting metaphor for our dialogue: two different cultures that raise a bridge between them,” concluded Mary McCarthy.

For Romania, the European-Chinese Cultural Dialogue held particular significance from one point of view: in 2014 we celebrate sixty-five years of Romanian-Chinese diplomatic relations. “It is an anniversary very dear to us. Even though Romania and China are situated at opposite corners of the globe, the two countries long established the best of bilateral relations, which is most obvious in the organization of this event and in the founding of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing. The latter aims to become an interface between Romanian and Chinese cultures,” declared Lilian Zamfiroiu.

The European-Chinese Cultural Dialogue originated in a very simple idea: the creation of a framework for the two worlds to come together, to showcase the best of both cultures, and to share and search together for solutions to the challenges of our times.

See here the trilingual brochure of the event.

The eighth edition of the Night of the Cultural Institutes will take place on 20 June 2014 in Bucharest. It will be an exciting cultural night starting early and ending very late!

The organizers, 13 cultural centers and institutes and embassies, members of the EUNIC Bucharest Cluster, together with the Representation of the European Commission in Romania and the Information Office of the European Parliament in Romania, have prepared a very interesting and rich program of great diversity, that will animate the city center and will charm the public: films, music, theater, poetry, dance, creative workshops, readings, language classes, exhibitions, alternative and interactive events, performances, tastings and fairs.

The entrance to all the events scheduled at the Night of the Cultural Institutes is free.

The detailed program is available on the Facebook page.

Mr. Benoit Rutten, Delegate of Wallonia-Brussels, is the President of the EUNIC Bucharest Cluster for 2013-2014 and the Night of the Cultural Institutes is coordinated by the Delegation of Wallonia-Brussels in Bucharest.

The third edition of the European Literature Night in Bucharest will take place on May 28, from 19:00 until 23:30.

13 cultural institutes and embassies, members of the EUNIC Bucharest Cluster invite the public in 6 venues situated in a charming area of Bucharest which will host the event.

The public can attend public readings or performances based on the translations into Romanian of the works of some important European authors :  Daniel Glattauer (Austria), Karel Čapek (Czech Republic), Aléa Torik – attending the event (Germany), Odysseas Elytis and Yorgos Seferis (Greece), Italo Calvino (Italy), Hilary Mantel, Sarah Dunant, Philippa Gregory and William Shakespeare (Great Britain), Michał Walczak (Poland), Rui Zink (Portugal), Ioana Pârvulescu and Simona Sora (Romania), Ramón Gómez de la Serna (Spain), Orhan Pamuk (Turkey), Attila Mizser and Béla Hamvas (Hungary) and Alain Berenboom (Wallonia-Brussels).

The lectors are young and very talented Romanian actors, well-known journalists and writers, University Professors, students as well as firefighters.

The program is available on the Facebook page.

Mr. Benoit Rutten, Delegate of Wallonia-Brussels, is the President of EUNIC Bucharest Cluster for 2013-2014 and the European Literature Night is coordinated by the Delegation of Wallonia-Brussels in Bucharest.

Organised jointly by the EU and the Council of Europe, the European Day of Languages continues its effort to raise public awareness of the languages used in Europe, to promote cultural and linguistic diversity and to encourage people – schoolchildren and adults – to learn languages.

The celebration was held September 26, 2013 at the Goethe-Institut Thessaloniki on an “Doors Open Day” and by creating a “EUNIC Corner” (British Council, Goethe-Institut, Institut Francais, Istituto Itialano, Spanish Cultural Center Thessaloniki) informing visitors about European languages.

After the successful first edition last year, this year’s Literature Night in Bucharest goes downtown. The books and the lectors will be looking for the listeners in the city’s crowded cafés, alternative clubs, noisy intersections and totally unexpected (as for literature) venues like a modern petrol station or… the Bucharest Stock Exchange. The lectors are the most prominent Romanian actors, well-known journalists, poets, rappers and among them celebrities and scandalises. It will be loud.

More information here