ECB Cultural Days: Romania 2009 – a rich variety of cultures and genres

Romania is the sixth country to be the focus of the Cultural Days of the ECB in Frankfurt. On the 20th anniversary of the revolution in Romania and the fall of the Iron Curtain in Europe, the ECB, in cooperation with Banca Naţionalâ a României, is pleased to contribute to a deeper understanding of the culture of one of the newest EU Member States. The mix of genres represented in the three-week programme of events that will take place between 21 October and 9 November 2009 reflects the historical multiculturalism of a country situated between central and eastern Europe and the Balkans, and with roots in the Byzantine Empire. Theatre without words, photorealistic paintings and photographs of sculptures, as well as jazz combined with folklore, all add a fresh interdisciplinary touch to the annual Cultural Days events.

Fine art exhibitions are a prominent feature of this year’s programme. As a prelude to the series of events, the exhibition “Painting (Ro)Mania”, which presents three figurative contemporary painters (Ştefan Câlţia, Roman Tolici and Bogdan Vlăduţă), opens at the ECB on 16 September. This insight into the contemporary Romanian art scene is complemented by two other exhibitions taking place at the same time: an exhibition of items from Banca Naţionalâ a României’s numismatic collection and a philatelic exhibition organised by Romfilatelia, the official issuer of philatelic products in Romania. Guided tours of all three exhibitions will be available.

There will also be the opportunity to view 30 original photographs of the works of Constantin Brâncuşi, one of Europe’s most influential 20th century sculptors. They illustrate how one art form can enhance, differ from or even contradict another. The photographs of the sculptures were taken by Brâncuşi himself in his atelier and are on loan from the Centre Pompidou especially for this occasion. The exhibition opens at the Museum der Weltkulturen in Frankfurt on 23 October at 7 p.m. It will be accompanied by two lectures in order to provide valuable background information on his photographic work. These will be given by Radu Varia on 23 October at 8 p.m. and Friedrich Teja Bach on 4 November at 7 p.m., both of whom are internationally renowned experts on Brâncuşi.

Further information about the Cultural Days of the ECB and guided tours of the exhibitions can be found on the ECB’s website: http://www.ecb.europa.eu/events/cultural/cultdays/2009/html/index.en.html