RRI Live!

Listen to Radio Romania International Live

The National Museum of Romanian Literature, revamped for the 21st century

The National Museum of Romanian Literature is the recipient of the European Prize 2021

The National Museum of Romanian Literature, revamped for the 21st century
The National Museum of Romanian Literature, revamped for the 21st century

, 25.12.2021, 14:00

The
National Museum of Romanian Literature in 2021 has been the recipient of the
European Prize. As part of the on-line awarding ceremony for the European
Museum Academy Awards, the DASA Award went to two of the most relevant and
significant projects the Museum has carried in the last seven years: the main
exhibition in the Nicolae Cretulescu Street and the Anton Pann Memorial House exhibition.
We recall Anton Pann was a Romanian poet of the early 19th century.
Pann was also a composer of religious music, a folklore collector, a man of letters
and a regular contributor to various publications of his time. Here is the judging
panel’s motivation for the award: The permanent exhibition is impressive thanks
to its low-key yet minutely organized layout, rounding off the historical
building which is home to the exhibition. In its educational programs, the National
Museum of Romanian Literature has been audacious and utterly uncompromising,
acting as a vehicle for today’s social problems. At the core of its activity
lies interactive literature.


Indeed, in the organization of the museum’s main
exhibition, the curators and the museographers have first and foremost pursued
the interaction with the public, according to the literary genres (poetry on
the ground floor, prose, essays, literary history and criticism on the upper
floor, while the loft is home to playwrighting). The
museum has a heritage comprising more than 300,000 manuscripts, patrimony items and
old books which include incunabula that are more than 500 years old. Among such
items, there are manuscripts of works by Marcel Proust, Thomas Mann, Paul
Valéry, Giovanni Papini, Giuseppe Ungaretti and Mihai Eminescu. The National
Museum of Romanian Literature in recent years has been increasingly present on
the literary scene in Bucharest. Specifically, the museum has staged a wide
range of events, from academic symposia to jazz and poetry marathons. Accordingly,
the Museum’s team has developed public reading sessions, conferences, theme
exhibitions, creative workshops, events attended by a target audience.
Also,
the museum has staged internationally-recognized events, such as the Bucharest
International Poetry Festival.


In 2021, the Museum was home to the 11th
edition of the Bucharest International Poetry Festival. As part of the event, public
poetry reading sessions were being offered to the audiences by Romania authors.
Joining them, through podcasts and video recordings were poets from England, Argentina,
Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Mexico, Peru,
Republic of Moldova, Spain and the United States of America. Editor and writer
Ioan Cristescu has been the Director of the National Museum of Romanian Literature
since 2014. He told us that, among other things, his intention was to turn the
museum into a living space. Ioan Cristescu:


There is one thing literary history has taught us, namely a writer’s
presence in society should be a highly significant one. Writers are prominent members
of a community, yet they are no longer perceived like that by society, unfortunately.
And it is not about writers and the readers’ response to their work, it’s about
artists, broadly speaking, today artists are almost totally unknown even though
their work enjoys European, maybe world recognition. Unfortunately, we are no longer interested in getting acquainted
with the contemporary values. So it is for that particular reason that we sought
to open the museum for all generations and towards all forms of artistic
expression, with a view to creating a place, an environment where artists can manifest
themselves. And the fact that we succeeded to mount a creative museum, that only
enhanced our institution’s museum identity. The National Museum of
Romanian Literature is a museum where you can do a
lot more than merely looking at the exhibits, it is a living space. We have sought to
find our own identity through opening the museum to everybody and we did that because
people wanted a place like this, a place where they could express themselves.
It is a place where you’re sure to always find something new, where each and every
guest can put to good use their talent and erudition, qualities that seem to be
missing in our society, more and more. What we have been meaning to achieve and,
at that, I hope we have succeeded, is to contribute, through our activities, to
the lay public’s getting closer to writing, to reading, we want to encourage
reading, we want to contribute to the education of those who visit us.


The
National Museum of Romanian Literature also sought to maintain the connection
with the public during the pandemic, so they created a platform, Cultura in
direct, Live Culture, in English. The Director of the National Museum of
Romanian Literature, Ioan Cristescu:


We built this video platform, Live Culture, by means of which we dovetailed
the site of the museum and our activities. Our intention was to go online,
gradually, but also to move to television transmission. As you can see, most of
the debates in our society are not debates focusing on the problems we think are
important, or on cultural issues. We have been witnessing, oftentimes,
political debates, but we, the people of the National Museum of Romanian Literature,
are not interested in politics. What we’re interested in are debates of ideas,
the literary and interdisciplinary debates, as the writer and their literature
are also the outcome of what is going on in contemporary society, that is why
we have been trying to make the connection, to find connections between literature
and other disciplines.


(Translation by Eugen Nasta)



foto: unpăun
World of Culture Saturday, 30 November 2024

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...

The Breakup
Foto: facebook.com/Clara.the.Romanian.school.teacher
World of Culture Saturday, 23 November 2024

Romanian recent award-winning film productions

Clara is a feature-length film directed by Sabin Dorohoi. A fresh production, with a strong impact, focusing on a major and necessary topic, Clara...

Romanian recent award-winning film productions
World of Culture Saturday, 16 November 2024

The New Year that Never Came

The New Year that Never Came, written and directed by Bogdan Mureșanu, was proposed on the list of films that will be considered for nomination at...

The New Year that Never Came
Festivalul Național de Teatru (sursa foto: Festivalul Național de Teatru)
World of Culture Saturday, 09 November 2024

The National Theater Festival

The 34th edition of the National Theatre Festival, hosted by theatres and various non-conventional spaces in Bucharest, turned into a true marathon...

The National Theater Festival
World of Culture Saturday, 02 November 2024

The Natural Dyes Exhibition at the History Museum

The National History Museum of Romania (NHMR) presents, starting in mid-September, a new exhibition: “Natural dyes. From museum scientific...

The Natural Dyes Exhibition at the History Museum
World of Culture Saturday, 26 October 2024

EXT. CAR. NIGHT, a new film by Andrei Crețulescu

EXT. CAR. NIGHT, the second feature film directed and written by Andrei Crețulescu, stars four emblematic actors of the new wave who play multiple...

EXT. CAR. NIGHT, a new film by Andrei Crețulescu
World of Culture Saturday, 12 October 2024

Ciao, Italy! Animest 19

After having gathered 15 thousand viewers in front of the cinema screens at the previous edition, the International Animation Film Festival –...

Ciao, Italy! Animest 19
World of Culture Saturday, 05 October 2024

Bestiary, a Vanner Collective project

The independent theatre company Vanner Collective is known for its original initiatives in the Romanian cultural space, translating burning social...

Bestiary, a Vanner Collective project

Partners

Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român Muzeul Național al Țăranului Român
Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS Liga Studentilor Romani din Strainatate - LSRS
Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online Modernism | The Leading Romanian Art Magazine Online
Institului European din România Institului European din România
Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti Institutul Francez din România – Bucureşti
Muzeul Național de Artă al României Muzeul Național de Artă al României
Le petit Journal Le petit Journal
Radio Prague International Radio Prague International
Muzeul Național de Istorie a României Muzeul Național de Istorie a României
ARCUB ARCUB
Radio Canada International Radio Canada International
Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti” Muzeul Național al Satului „Dimitrie Gusti”
SWI swissinfo.ch SWI swissinfo.ch
UBB Radio ONLINE UBB Radio ONLINE
Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl Strona główna - English Section - polskieradio.pl
creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti creart - Centrul de Creație Artă și Tradiție al Municipiului Bucuresti
italradio italradio
Institutul Confucius Institutul Confucius
BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți BUCPRESS - știri din Cernăuți

Affiliates

Euranet Plus Euranet Plus
AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters AIB | the trade association for international broadcasters
Digital Radio Mondiale Digital Radio Mondiale
News and current affairs from Germany and around the world News and current affairs from Germany and around the world
Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona Comunità radiotelevisiva italofona

Providers

RADIOCOM RADIOCOM
Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company Zeno Media - The Everything Audio Company