2017 European Night of Museums
The European Night of Museums was marked in Romania on Saturday.
România Internațional, 22.05.2017, 13:04
The 2017 edition of the European Night of Museums hit a new record – a total of 212 institutions from Romania enrolled for the event, while tens of thousands of people went on Saturday night to visit cultural venues free of charge. 54 museums and cultural organizations played host to guided tours, exhibitions, theatre plays, concerts, discussion panels or book launches. One of the most sought-after destinations on this occasion was the “Grigore Antipa Museum of Natural History and the Geology Museum in Bucharest. Here visitors, which were mostly young people or families with children, could visit the exhibition “Night of the Dinosaurs – A Night of Magic, with replicas of dinosaurs and a quartz skull weighing over 30 kilos, the only one of its kind in Europe.
The Romanian Academy, in cooperation with the Legacy of Tomorrow Cultural Association exhibited one of Constantin Brancusis few sculptures currently on Romanian soil, “Childs Head, at the Museum of Old Western Art. The Bellu Cemetery in Bucharest also played host to jazz and classical music concerts. Astronomy enthusiasts could visit the freshly renovated Astronomy Observatory.
The Filipescu-Cesianu House this year opened the doors of its Age Museum, the first urban anthropology museum in the country, inaugurated last year. Innovative exhibitions, such as Leonard da Vincis machines, the Bucharest Art Gallery, an inter-war project, the living statues of Masca Theatre exhilarated visitors of the “Theodor Aman Museum, the Sutu Palace, the Filipescu-Cesianu House or the “Nicolae Minovici Museum.
At the Brukenthal Museum in Sibiu, the library and the wonder rooms were opened to the public, despite currently being in their design phase. The two sectors will become part of the full tour starting the second half of the year. Also taking part in the Night of Museums was the open-air museum in Dumbrava Sibiului, the largest of its kind in Romania, spreading over 100 hectares.
In 2017, the Night of Museums was preceded by a protest of museum employees, the first ever staged in post-communist Romania. Protesters rallied in front of the National History Museum in Bucharest and then before the Ministry of Culture building. Museum employees say they have been overlooked by the latest salary increases, while the current salary bill further discriminates against them and puts them in an unfair position. Unless their demands are met, employees say they will take their protest to the next level, which may include an all-out strike.
Having reached its 13th edition, the European Night of Museums enjoys a growing success from one year to the next at international level. Over 3,000 museums from all over Europe, as well as many art galleries, schools and cultural venues, took part in the event.
(translated by: Vlad Palcu)
