Romanian Cultural Diplomacy

The Romanian Cultural Institute organizes cultural events across the world.

Roxana Vasile, 15.02.2019, 12:50

Currently, France is ground zero of Romanian cultural diplomacy. Since late November the Hexagon has been hosting the Romania — France Season. Cities such as Paris, Avignon, Bordeaux, Brest, Grenoble, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Rennes, Strasbourg and Toulouse have been hosting lots of events aimed at highlighting Romania’s cultural, scientific and sports assets.

The Romania — France Season, which in April will move to Romania, a francophone and Francophile country, was born out of a common political will, and has been unfolding in parallel with the Romanian Presidency of the Council of the EU this year, and, last year, with the celebration of two centennials: the Great Union of 1918, by means of which modern Romania was created, and the end of WWI. Therefore, all eyes are now set on France, thanks to the many events taking place there, but the Romanian Cultural Institute has not ignored the other cities where it has branches.

On Thursday, for instance, the new headquarters of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Spain was inaugurated. According to the Romanian ambassador to Spain, Gabriela Dancau, the cultural dimension of the relationship with Spain cannon be ignored, as it is a major pillar of cooperation. The new headquarters will allow the Romanian Cultural Institute in Madrid to take a quality jump by promoting large-scale cultural projects, against a competitive cultural background.

The Romanian Cultural Institute is located in Plaza del Cordon, in the vicinity of the Spanish capital’s historical, political and cultural center, just minutes from the Royal Palace, the National Theatre and Opera, Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol and also close to other cultural institutes, such as the Italian one. It is hosted by a historic building and has an exhibition hall, a library boasting 3,000 titles and classrooms. Romanian officials believe this is the best of locations, in the very heart of classical Madrid, making it easy for the Spanish and international visitors to discover Romanian culture and arts.

Moving on from Madrid, we should also mention that over February 14-17, Romania is taking part in the Brussels book fair, the most important literary event of the city. The fair celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, and is visited by some 70,000 people every year.

Also, on February 19th, the Hague will host an extraordinary concert given by the Young European String Camerata and the Romanian violinist Vlad Maistorovici. Then, on February 23rd, for the third year in a row, the Romanian Embassy in Portugal and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Lisbon will be hosting a reading marathon titled “Portugal Reads in Romanian”, this year devoted to the great Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi.

These are just some of the events organized by the 19 branches of the Romanian Cultural Institute across the world, as special means of building cultural bridges between Romania and other countries.