Romani Online in UK

Enescu Society: April Concert With ConTempo Quartet @ ICR London (19:00 - 21:00)
The Romanian Cultural Institute

has the pleasure to invite you

to the 2010/2011

enescu society concert season

April concert

ConTempo Quartet

Bogdan Sofei (violin)
Ingrid Nicola (violin)
Andreea Banciu (viola)
Adrian Mantu (cello)
G. Enescu Quartet No 2 Op 22
R. Schumann Quartet No 3 Op 41
L. van Beethoven Quartet Op 132

Thursday, 1st April 2010, 7-9 pm

Romanian Cultural Institute
1 Belgrave Square
London SW1X 8PH

complimentary seats RVSP: 020 7752 0134 or

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.icr-london.co.uk

Latecomers will be admitted at the interval.

All That Remains...the Teenagers Of Socialism (12:00 - 18:00)

Artist Stefan Constantinescu takes part in the group exhibition All that remains... the Teenagers of Socialism, with support from the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.

The exhibition presents a young generation of artists from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and the UK exploring 'all that remained' once the political system of their childhood had disintegrated.

It seeks to address the complexities of the effects of the decline of Socialism in Eastern Europe, which has been disruptive for a generation of artists who were in their mid and late teens when the first bits of crumbling concrete sparked an avalanche of revolutions in Eastern Europe. This young generation of 'Socialists' had to transform into 'Capitalists' in the midst of their adulthood. For some of them socialism became a ghostly figure linked to childhood memories, social relations and oral history - living images glued into memory like photographs in a family album.

All that remains... the Teenagers of Socialism showcases works by Anna Baumgart (Poland), Florian Wüst (Germany), Gerda Leopold (Germany), ?ukasz Ronduda (Poland), Stefan Constantinescu (Romania and Sweden), Tereza Bušková (Czech Republic and UK) and Karen Mirza and Brad Butler (UK).
The exhibition is curated by Maxa Zoller.

Artists' Talk
Wednesday, 10th March, 5-7pm,
Goldsmiths College, The Small Cinema

In this talk Stefan Constantinescu will expand on the issues addressed in his practice, that is the way in which any political regime, Communist as well as Capitalist, affects our body, inflicts social alienation and controls our sense of the real.

Stefan Constantinescu was born in Bucharest in 1968 and moved to Stockholm in 1994. He exhibited in the Romanian Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale this year, within the group show The Seductiveness of the Interval. In 2007, he had a solo exhibition at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, located in the building meant to be Nicolae Ceausescu's presidential palace. Selected group exhibitions include: The social critique 1993-2005, Kalmar Konstmuseum Sweden, 2009; Dada East? Romanian Context of Dadaizm, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2008; indirect speech, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, 2006.
Forthcoming projects: My Beautiful Dacia, documentary film co-directed with Julio Soto - to be released on Channel 4 in 2010.
More information on Stefan Constantinescu's work here.

When: 12 March - 11 April 2010; Thu-Sat: 12-6pm, Sundays: 12-4pm;
Where: Waterside Project Space, Unit 8, Waterside 44-48 Wharf Rd, London N1 7UX
Free entry.

SLUJBA DE PASTI Parohia Ortodoxa Romana Cambridge UK (09:00)
Parohia Ortodoxa Romana Cambridge UK

Programul slujbelor de pasti: 3-4 aprilie 2010

Slujba Invierii se va tine la Biserica Sf Petru la ora 11.30 sambata seara si va fi continuata de Sfanta Liturghie a Pastilor la miezul noptii spre duminica

-directii, harta si detalii gasiti in atasamentul la acest e-mail si de asemenea la linkul www.churchatcastle.org

- pentru cei care vin cu masina codul postal este CB3 0AQ ( se poate parka pe stradutele di jur)

Vecernia Pastilor (A Doua Inviere) se va tine la biserica Michaelhouse la ora 12.00 duminica ziua si va fi continuata de o agapa.

-directii, harta si detalii despre Michaelhouse gasiti in al doilea atasament al e-mailului si la linkul http://www.michaelhouse.org.uk/

- adresa este Michaelhouse, Trinity Street, Cambridge CB2 1SU ( biserica este chiar in centrul istoric si deci va trebui sa parcati undeva mai departe, dar drumul de la locurile unde se poate parca pana la biserica este o placere pentru iubitorii de frumos)

SLUJBA DE PASTI Parohia Ortodoxa Romana Cambridge UK (09:00)
Parohia Ortodoxa Romana Cambridge UK

Programul slujbelor de pasti: 3-4 aprilie 2010

Slujba Invierii se va tine la Biserica Sf Petru la ora 11.30 sambata seara si va fi continuata de Sfanta Liturghie a Pastilor la miezul noptii spre duminica

-directii, harta si detalii gasiti in atasamentul la acest e-mail si de asemenea la linkul www.churchatcastle.org

- pentru cei care vin cu masina codul postal este CB3 0AQ ( se poate parka pe stradutele di jur)

Vecernia Pastilor (A Doua Inviere) se va tine la biserica Michaelhouse la ora 12.00 duminica ziua si va fi continuata de o agapa.

-directii, harta si detalii despre Michaelhouse gasiti in al doilea atasament al e-mailului si la linkul http://www.michaelhouse.org.uk/

- adresa este Michaelhouse, Trinity Street, Cambridge CB2 1SU ( biserica este chiar in centrul istoric si deci va trebui sa parcati undeva mai departe, dar drumul de la locurile unde se poate parca pana la biserica este o placere pentru iubitorii de frumos)

Christian Hogas @ Attic Arts (08:00 - 18:00)

Actor and director Christian Hogas is the first of the four successful applicants who take up the ICR London Attic Arts residency in 2010. He will develop a semi-staged performance of the play Bones for Otto by acclaimed Romanian director and actress Lia Bugnar. The play was first performed in Romania in 2003 and won the Fringe-Project Award at the 2004 ESB Dublin Fringe Festival.

The play explores the concerns and prejudices of two women who met in extreme circumstances: a professional prostitute, working on streets to feed her family and an opera singer who desperately needs £500 to fly to New Zeeland for her dream job - the lead role in La Traviata.
Featuring Alice Fernbank (UK) and Andreea Paduraru (Romania).

Project partners: Theatre Royal Stratford East and Young Vic Theatre.

Christian Hogas graduated from the National University of Drama and Film "I.L. Caragiale", Performing Arts department. He worked with various theatres in Bucharest, Budapest and London, both as actor and director.

When: 15 March - 15 May 2010;
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute London.

Photo Exhibition: ‘Not Natasha’ By Dana Popa At Impressions Gallery, Bradford (08:00 - 09:00)
Impressions Gallery, in partnership with Autograph ABP, presents ‘Not Natasha’ by award-winning photographer Dana Popa.
This hard-hitting and harrowing project, made over the last four years, documents the experiences of sex-trafficked women from Moldova through photography and collected stories. Popa says, ‘Natasha is the nickname given to prostitutes with Eastern European looks. Sex trafficked girls hate it’.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moldova is one of the main source countries for trafficking women and children, with up to 10% of the female population sold into prostitution abroad. Popa photographed and documented the disturbing experiences of these women in Moldova. She also collected the stories of those who remain disappeared, photographing their families, homes, and in some cases children who were left behind. Finally, she documented the spaces where trafficked women are forced into prostitution in the brothels of Soho, London.
Dana Popa (born 1977, Romania) is an award-winning photo-artist based in London who graduated from the London College of Communication. She specialises in contemporary social issues, with a particular emphasis on human rights.
• Not Natasha
Until 18 April 2010 (exhibition open from 5 February), Impressions Gallery, Impressions Gallery, Centenary Square, Bradford BD1 1SD, Tel. 08450 515 882 Join us for an Artist Talk with Dana Popa on Saturday 27 February 2010, 14.00-15.00.
Details on www.impressions-gallery.com

Geta Bratescu @ A Foundation (12:00 - 18:00)

Romanian distinguished artist Geta Bratescu takes part in The Economy of the Gift exhibition at A Foundation Liverpool. The show presents eight galleries and eight artists curated by Ticiana Correa, exploring the idea of value in a time of market crisis.

The Economy of the Gift has been designed to build on the cultural legacy of Liverpool's role as European Capital of Culture in 2008 and will be an annual affair.

Participating galleries are: Ivan Gallery (Bucharest), Andréhn-Schiptjenko (Stockholm), Bureau (Manchester), Ceri Hand Gallery (Liverpool), Freymond-Guth & Co Fine Arts (Zurich), The International 3 (Manchester), Jack Hanley Gallery (San Francisco and New York), Workplace Gallery (Gateshead).

Exhibiting artists: Geta Bratescu, Eric Bainbridge, Brass Art, Elodie Pong, Jacob Dahlgren, Mark Harasimowicz, Rebecca Lennon and Shaun O' Dell.

Geta Bratescu was born in 1926 in Ploiesti, being one of the most remarkable personalities of Romanian post-war avant-garde art. Along other artists of 1960s generation, she worked with object, installation and performance, with a focus on serialism, recurrence of patterns and clichés. Bratescu devoted herself to research on her body as an identity object specific for representation, being one of the few artists who studied the relation between the body and the intimate space; she aims constantly to dissipate the boundaries between the spaces of art and of everyday life. She lives and works in Bucharest.

The participation of Geta Bratescu and the Ivan Gallery in The Economy of the Gift is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.

When: 8 April - 22 May 2010, Tue - Sat 12 - 6pm
Where: The Blade Factory, A Foundation, 67 Greenland Street, Liverpool L1 0BY
Admission: is free.

All That Remains...the Teenagers Of Socialism (12:00 - 18:00)

Artist Stefan Constantinescu takes part in the group exhibition All that remains... the Teenagers of Socialism, with support from the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.

The exhibition presents a young generation of artists from Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and the UK exploring 'all that remained' once the political system of their childhood had disintegrated.

It seeks to address the complexities of the effects of the decline of Socialism in Eastern Europe, which has been disruptive for a generation of artists who were in their mid and late teens when the first bits of crumbling concrete sparked an avalanche of revolutions in Eastern Europe. This young generation of 'Socialists' had to transform into 'Capitalists' in the midst of their adulthood. For some of them socialism became a ghostly figure linked to childhood memories, social relations and oral history - living images glued into memory like photographs in a family album.

All that remains... the Teenagers of Socialism showcases works by Anna Baumgart (Poland), Florian Wüst (Germany), Gerda Leopold (Germany), ?ukasz Ronduda (Poland), Stefan Constantinescu (Romania and Sweden), Tereza Bušková (Czech Republic and UK) and Karen Mirza and Brad Butler (UK).
The exhibition is curated by Maxa Zoller.

Artists' Talk
Wednesday, 10th March, 5-7pm,
Goldsmiths College, The Small Cinema

In this talk Stefan Constantinescu will expand on the issues addressed in his practice, that is the way in which any political regime, Communist as well as Capitalist, affects our body, inflicts social alienation and controls our sense of the real.

Stefan Constantinescu was born in Bucharest in 1968 and moved to Stockholm in 1994. He exhibited in the Romanian Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale this year, within the group show The Seductiveness of the Interval. In 2007, he had a solo exhibition at the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Bucharest, located in the building meant to be Nicolae Ceausescu's presidential palace. Selected group exhibitions include: The social critique 1993-2005, Kalmar Konstmuseum Sweden, 2009; Dada East? Romanian Context of Dadaizm, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, 2008; indirect speech, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, 2006.
Forthcoming projects: My Beautiful Dacia, documentary film co-directed with Julio Soto - to be released on Channel 4 in 2010.
More information on Stefan Constantinescu's work here.

When: 12 March - 11 April 2010; Thu-Sat: 12-6pm, Sundays: 12-4pm;
Where: Waterside Project Space, Unit 8, Waterside 44-48 Wharf Rd, London N1 7UX
Free entry.

Christian Hogas @ Attic Arts (08:00 - 18:00)

Actor and director Christian Hogas is the first of the four successful applicants who take up the ICR London Attic Arts residency in 2010. He will develop a semi-staged performance of the play Bones for Otto by acclaimed Romanian director and actress Lia Bugnar. The play was first performed in Romania in 2003 and won the Fringe-Project Award at the 2004 ESB Dublin Fringe Festival.

The play explores the concerns and prejudices of two women who met in extreme circumstances: a professional prostitute, working on streets to feed her family and an opera singer who desperately needs £500 to fly to New Zeeland for her dream job - the lead role in La Traviata.
Featuring Alice Fernbank (UK) and Andreea Paduraru (Romania).

Project partners: Theatre Royal Stratford East and Young Vic Theatre.

Christian Hogas graduated from the National University of Drama and Film "I.L. Caragiale", Performing Arts department. He worked with various theatres in Bucharest, Budapest and London, both as actor and director.

When: 15 March - 15 May 2010;
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute London.

Photo Exhibition: ‘Not Natasha’ By Dana Popa At Impressions Gallery, Bradford (08:00 - 09:00)
Impressions Gallery, in partnership with Autograph ABP, presents ‘Not Natasha’ by award-winning photographer Dana Popa.
This hard-hitting and harrowing project, made over the last four years, documents the experiences of sex-trafficked women from Moldova through photography and collected stories. Popa says, ‘Natasha is the nickname given to prostitutes with Eastern European looks. Sex trafficked girls hate it’.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moldova is one of the main source countries for trafficking women and children, with up to 10% of the female population sold into prostitution abroad. Popa photographed and documented the disturbing experiences of these women in Moldova. She also collected the stories of those who remain disappeared, photographing their families, homes, and in some cases children who were left behind. Finally, she documented the spaces where trafficked women are forced into prostitution in the brothels of Soho, London.
Dana Popa (born 1977, Romania) is an award-winning photo-artist based in London who graduated from the London College of Communication. She specialises in contemporary social issues, with a particular emphasis on human rights.
• Not Natasha
Until 18 April 2010 (exhibition open from 5 February), Impressions Gallery, Impressions Gallery, Centenary Square, Bradford BD1 1SD, Tel. 08450 515 882 Join us for an Artist Talk with Dana Popa on Saturday 27 February 2010, 14.00-15.00.
Details on www.impressions-gallery.com

Geta Bratescu @ A Foundation (12:00 - 18:00)

Romanian distinguished artist Geta Bratescu takes part in The Economy of the Gift exhibition at A Foundation Liverpool. The show presents eight galleries and eight artists curated by Ticiana Correa, exploring the idea of value in a time of market crisis.

The Economy of the Gift has been designed to build on the cultural legacy of Liverpool's role as European Capital of Culture in 2008 and will be an annual affair.

Participating galleries are: Ivan Gallery (Bucharest), Andréhn-Schiptjenko (Stockholm), Bureau (Manchester), Ceri Hand Gallery (Liverpool), Freymond-Guth & Co Fine Arts (Zurich), The International 3 (Manchester), Jack Hanley Gallery (San Francisco and New York), Workplace Gallery (Gateshead).

Exhibiting artists: Geta Bratescu, Eric Bainbridge, Brass Art, Elodie Pong, Jacob Dahlgren, Mark Harasimowicz, Rebecca Lennon and Shaun O' Dell.

Geta Bratescu was born in 1926 in Ploiesti, being one of the most remarkable personalities of Romanian post-war avant-garde art. Along other artists of 1960s generation, she worked with object, installation and performance, with a focus on serialism, recurrence of patterns and clichés. Bratescu devoted herself to research on her body as an identity object specific for representation, being one of the few artists who studied the relation between the body and the intimate space; she aims constantly to dissipate the boundaries between the spaces of art and of everyday life. She lives and works in Bucharest.

The participation of Geta Bratescu and the Ivan Gallery in The Economy of the Gift is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.

When: 8 April - 22 May 2010, Tue - Sat 12 - 6pm
Where: The Blade Factory, A Foundation, 67 Greenland Street, Liverpool L1 0BY
Admission: is free.

Anniversary Screening: 'Reenactment' By Lucian Pintilie And Q&A With Actors Vladimir Gaitan And Geor (19:00 - 21:00)
Romanian Cinematheque

Thursday 15 April, 7 pm

Reenactment by Lucian Pintilie

the 40th anniversary since its controversial premiere in Bucharest

Q&A with actors Vladimir Gaitan and George Mihaita Romania | 1968 | b&w | 100min | cast: George Constantin, Emil Botta, George Mihaita, Vladimir Gaitan, Ernest Maftei, Ileana Popovici, Nicky Wolcz, Stefan Moisescu. In Romanian with English subtitles.

Reenactment is the best movie in the history of the Romanian cinema. This movie had a huge influence on my generation.
Corneliu Porumboiu, Camera d'Or winner 2006, Jury's Prize Un Certain Regard 2009.

Students Ripu and Vuica celebrate one evening by drinking too much. They attack the bar owner and break a window. Days later a policeman, a judge, and a film crew take them to the crime scene: instead of spending time in jail, they will work as actors in a state-sponsored documentary about alcoholism. During the filming, the students experience very keenly their real feelings about their lives and the society they live in.

Reenactment was one of Ceausescu's worst nightmares. After several screenings and without having had an official premiere, the film was banned because, according to one critic, "It was dominated by a sense of the tragic...and nourished by a profound civil and cultural awareness".

Romanian Cinematheque is a year-round programme that brings the best Romanian films to London.

Free entrance. Booking: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it | 020 7752 0134.

Romanian Cinematheque - Reenactment (19:00 - 21:00)
The Romanian Cultural Institute in London launches a new project: the Romanian Cinematheque - a year-round programme that brings the best Romanian films to London, from iconic Hollywood director Jean Negulesco and the mid '60s cinema-verité master Lucian Pintilie to the 'new wave' of award-winning directors Cristi Puiu, Corneliu Porumboiu and Cristian Mungiu amongst others. Insightful and inclusive, the programme traces back today's spectacular leap onto front-page and red carpets to the time when Romanian directors made astonishing film well-beyond the constraints of a repressive system. If you are passionate about film, join us for the most exciting journey - the Romanian Cinematheque, monthly, at the Romanian Cultural Institute.

Wednesday 17 March, 7pm
The Death of Mr Lazarescu by Cristi Puiu
Romania | 2005 | col | 153min | Cert.15| cast: Ion Fiscuteanu, Luminita Gheorghiu, Gabriel Spahiu

Introduced by Time Out film critic Dave Calhoun
A retired engineer shares his dour Bucharest apartment with three cats. One night he becomes ill and calls an ambulance. No hospital, however, is willing to accept him, and as the night wears on, his condition gets worse. This seemingly bleak scenario, awarded Un Certain Regard at the 2005 Festival de Cannes, depicts a universal theme - death and hospitals - with humanity and dark humor. The terrible, meditative power of Puiu's film is that while we, the viewer, are all-knowing from the off, Mr Lazarescu himself knows nothing of his impending fate. He dies, delirious and muttering about his family, headaches and painkillers, in the company not even of strangers but alone on a hospital trolley, naked and his head shaved ready for surgery. No hails of bullets, weepy farewells, hysterical resuscitation efforts or soppy flashbacks for Puiu; this is death as cinema rarely does it - credibly. Dave Calhoun
Inspired by real events, its appeal is the clever way it involves the viewer emotionally, keeping him breathless in a race against the clock.
Alex Leo Serban

April - July Programme
Thu 15 April, 7.00pm: Reenactment
România | 1968 | b&w | 100min | dir. Lucian Pintilie| cast: George Constantin, Emil Botta, George Mihaita, Vladimir Gaitan, Ernest Maftei, Ileana Popovici, Nicky Wolcz, Stefan Moisescu

Thu 27 May, 7.00pm: Philanthropy
Romania - France | 2002 | 110min | dir. Nae Caranfil | cast: Mircea Diaconu, Gheorghe Dinica, Mara Nicolescu, Florin Zamfirescu, Marius Florea Vizante, Florin Calinescu

Tue 15 June, 7.00pm: A Girl's Tear
Romania | 1980 | 83min | dir: Iosif Demian | cast: Anton Aftenie, Dorel Visan, George Bussun, George Negoescu, Luiza Orosz, Costel Radulescu, Horia Baciu, Dragos Paslaru

Tue 13 July, 7.00pm: California Dreamin' (Endless) Romania | 2007 | 155min | dir. Cristian Nemescu | cast: Armand Assante, Razvan Vasilescu, Jamie Elman, Maria Dinulescu


CNCRomanian Cinematheque is a partnership project with the National Centre for Cinematography in Romania (CNC).
All films have English subtitles.

When: 17 March 2010, 7.00 pm;
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute London.
Free entrance. To attend please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 0207 752 0134.
Early booking recommended.

Romanian Cinema @ New Europe Film Festival 2010 (20:45 - 22:45)

New Europe Film Festival is back for the annual portion of film treasures from Eastern and Central Europe. This year's films come from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Romania.

Take your friends and catch an evening show at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh… especially for the award-winning Romanian films The Other Irene by Andrei Gruzsniczki and the debut feature Constantin and Elena by Andrei Dascalescu.

Sunday 18 April, 8.45pm
The Other Irene by Andrei Gruzsniczki
Romania 2009, 1h30m, English subtitles, Cert 15
Cast: Andi Vasluianu, Simona Popescu, Dan Astilean, Doru Ana
Sharing themes as it does with some of the finest European thrillers such as The Vanishing, it's hard to believe The Other Irene is, in fact, based on a true story. Reluctantly, security guard Aurel lets his wife Irene go on a working trip to Cairo. Having had a breath of fresh air, she returns transformed and soon sets out again - but this time she does not come back. Now Aurel's true ordeal begins as he sets out on his own journey: a search for his wife amidst dubious bureaucrats, criminal embassies and hateful in-laws.

Sunday 25 April, 6.00pm
Constantin and Elena by Andrei Dascalescu
Romania/Spain 2008, 1h42m, English subtitles, Cert 12A
In a Romanian village, an elderly couple has been happily married for almost 55 years. Constantin and Elena know that life must end, but are happy with everything that they've had. They fi ll their days with chores in and around the house, going to church and receiving welcome visitors, not to mention a catnap every now and then. This love story tells itself in images, and the fi lmmaker, also the couple's grandson, keeps himself invisible.

The screenings are supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.

Click here for the full festival programme.

When: 18 April, 8.45pm & 25 April, 6.00pm
Where: Filmhouse Cinema, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9BZ
Tickets: from www.filmhousecinema.com

Christian Hogas @ Attic Arts (08:00 - 18:00)

Actor and director Christian Hogas is the first of the four successful applicants who take up the ICR London Attic Arts residency in 2010. He will develop a semi-staged performance of the play Bones for Otto by acclaimed Romanian director and actress Lia Bugnar. The play was first performed in Romania in 2003 and won the Fringe-Project Award at the 2004 ESB Dublin Fringe Festival.

The play explores the concerns and prejudices of two women who met in extreme circumstances: a professional prostitute, working on streets to feed her family and an opera singer who desperately needs £500 to fly to New Zeeland for her dream job - the lead role in La Traviata.
Featuring Alice Fernbank (UK) and Andreea Paduraru (Romania).

Project partners: Theatre Royal Stratford East and Young Vic Theatre.

Christian Hogas graduated from the National University of Drama and Film "I.L. Caragiale", Performing Arts department. He worked with various theatres in Bucharest, Budapest and London, both as actor and director.

When: 15 March - 15 May 2010;
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute London.

Romania @ The London Book Fair (09:00)

The Romanian Cultural Institute organises, for the third consecutive year, Romania's stand at The London Book Fair. The most important publishing houses will take part, reflecting the fast dynamics of the Romanian book market.
This year's guest of honour, University of Plymouth Press, will present the series of "20 Romanian writers" translated in English with support from the Romanian Cultural Institute.

The participant publishing houses are: All, Art, Brumar, Cartea Romaneasca, Casa Radio Publishing House, Cartier (Moldova), Corint, Curtea Veche, Hasefer, House of Guides, Humanitas, Humanitas Fiction, Humanitas Multimedia, Idea Design, Igloo, Junimea, Minerva, Nemira, Niculescu, Orizonturi, Paralela 45, Polirom, RAO, Trei, Tritonic, Vellant, Vivaldi, Vremea and the Romanian Cultural Institute's Publishing House.

Together with more than 700 titles of the Romanian publishing houses (books, translations from English, audio books, CDs, albums, tourist guides, dictionaries), the stand will also include 100 books published abroad, through the funding programmes of the National Book Centre and albums published by the Institute's Publishing House.

Events at the stand:

Monday, 19 April, 15.00-16.00: "Text-Door Neighbours", a special debate with representatives of UPP and one of the 20 authors, Stelian Tanase. His non-fiction book Aunt Varvara's Clients will be launched, and Romanian actress Cristina Catalina will read excerpts in English.

Tuesday, 20 April, 14.00: launch of Absinthe 13: Spotlight on Romania. Jean Harris has guest edited the current edition of this bi-annual review, which highlights Romanian fiction, and as presenter of this collection she will introduce readings from the collection and hold a dialogue with contributor Stelian Tanase, whose fiction appeared last June in the Guardian's "Stories from a New Europe".

Wednesday, 21 April, 11.00: British journalist and author Anthony Daniels will talk about the photo album Kombinat. Industrial Ruins of the Golden Era.

When: 19-21 April 2010; Monday 9.00-18.30, Tuesday 9.00-18.30, Wednesday 9.00-17.00
Where: Earls Court One&Two, London
Tickets: www.londonbookfair.co.uk

'The Corridors Of Power' A Talk By Razvan Orasanu (19:00 - 21:00)
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
a talk by Razvan Orasanu

Hosted by Dr Mike Phillips OBE, British novelist, historian and curator.

Followed by a Q&A session

19.00-21.00, The Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre, Manchester Square, 18 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 6EQ; Tel. 020 7486 0295, ext 108; e-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; Entry is free but booking is essential.

“My aim is to make you believe that anything and everything in the smoke and mirrors of government can be learned, internalized, dissected. I shall attempt to give you a glimpse of the workings of government in Romania and the UK. Expect biting comments, a touch of irony and an analytical view. Somebody once observed that sausage-making and policy making shouldn’t be seen from up-close....well, you are going to get as much of an up-close view as it is possible to digest in a single session with only 20 minutes of talk and 40 minutes of questions and answers.

There are four things this talk would like to show to you:
- There is nothing magical about political power – everything can be learned with specialized skills and a determined mind;
- The government is a machine working in its own strange ways – politicians vary in the degree of control over ‘the system’;
- The system is sensitive to citizen pressure, but only in a few particular ways which are going to be discussed;
- The things you can do to make government more accountable and responsive to YOU.
I shall be looking at this evening as a first step in a conversation that I hope will continue for years to come.” - Razvan Orasanu

Razvan Orasanu holds a BSc in Philosophy and Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), which he followed with graduate level courses in 2007, 2008 and 2009 at Harvard University Extension School, Joint Vienna Institute/ European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and International Monetary Fund Institute. While studying at the LSE, Razvan Orasanu was a Ratiu Foundation Scholar.
Razvan is an economist, editorialist for ‘Ziarul Financiar’ and ‘Capital’, former Senior Advisor on Economic Affairs for the Prime Minister of Romania (2005-2009). He helped structure Romania’s framework agreements with the World Bank and the EBRD and advised on stand-by loan negotiations with the IMF in 2005. Razvan was the President of the Authority for State Assets Recovery (AVAS), from January to October 2006.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / /
Organised by The Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre in London.

www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com; www.romanianculturalcentre.org.uk Culture Power is a programme initiated by the Ratiu Foundation, consisting of a number of presentations and constructive dialogue with an invited audience.

With the support of ProFusion International Creative Consultancy.

Romania @ The London Book Fair (09:00)

The Romanian Cultural Institute organises, for the third consecutive year, Romania's stand at The London Book Fair. The most important publishing houses will take part, reflecting the fast dynamics of the Romanian book market.
This year's guest of honour, University of Plymouth Press, will present the series of "20 Romanian writers" translated in English with support from the Romanian Cultural Institute.

The participant publishing houses are: All, Art, Brumar, Cartea Romaneasca, Casa Radio Publishing House, Cartier (Moldova), Corint, Curtea Veche, Hasefer, House of Guides, Humanitas, Humanitas Fiction, Humanitas Multimedia, Idea Design, Igloo, Junimea, Minerva, Nemira, Niculescu, Orizonturi, Paralela 45, Polirom, RAO, Trei, Tritonic, Vellant, Vivaldi, Vremea and the Romanian Cultural Institute's Publishing House.

Together with more than 700 titles of the Romanian publishing houses (books, translations from English, audio books, CDs, albums, tourist guides, dictionaries), the stand will also include 100 books published abroad, through the funding programmes of the National Book Centre and albums published by the Institute's Publishing House.

Events at the stand:

Monday, 19 April, 15.00-16.00: "Text-Door Neighbours", a special debate with representatives of UPP and one of the 20 authors, Stelian Tanase. His non-fiction book Aunt Varvara's Clients will be launched, and Romanian actress Cristina Catalina will read excerpts in English.

Tuesday, 20 April, 14.00: launch of Absinthe 13: Spotlight on Romania. Jean Harris has guest edited the current edition of this bi-annual review, which highlights Romanian fiction, and as presenter of this collection she will introduce readings from the collection and hold a dialogue with contributor Stelian Tanase, whose fiction appeared last June in the Guardian's "Stories from a New Europe".

Wednesday, 21 April, 11.00: British journalist and author Anthony Daniels will talk about the photo album Kombinat. Industrial Ruins of the Golden Era.

When: 19-21 April 2010; Monday 9.00-18.30, Tuesday 9.00-18.30, Wednesday 9.00-17.00
Where: Earls Court One&Two, London
Tickets: www.londonbookfair.co.uk

Romania @ The London Book Fair (09:00)

The Romanian Cultural Institute organises, for the third consecutive year, Romania's stand at The London Book Fair. The most important publishing houses will take part, reflecting the fast dynamics of the Romanian book market.
This year's guest of honour, University of Plymouth Press, will present the series of "20 Romanian writers" translated in English with support from the Romanian Cultural Institute.

The participant publishing houses are: All, Art, Brumar, Cartea Romaneasca, Casa Radio Publishing House, Cartier (Moldova), Corint, Curtea Veche, Hasefer, House of Guides, Humanitas, Humanitas Fiction, Humanitas Multimedia, Idea Design, Igloo, Junimea, Minerva, Nemira, Niculescu, Orizonturi, Paralela 45, Polirom, RAO, Trei, Tritonic, Vellant, Vivaldi, Vremea and the Romanian Cultural Institute's Publishing House.

Together with more than 700 titles of the Romanian publishing houses (books, translations from English, audio books, CDs, albums, tourist guides, dictionaries), the stand will also include 100 books published abroad, through the funding programmes of the National Book Centre and albums published by the Institute's Publishing House.

Events at the stand:

Monday, 19 April, 15.00-16.00: "Text-Door Neighbours", a special debate with representatives of UPP and one of the 20 authors, Stelian Tanase. His non-fiction book Aunt Varvara's Clients will be launched, and Romanian actress Cristina Catalina will read excerpts in English.

Tuesday, 20 April, 14.00: launch of Absinthe 13: Spotlight on Romania. Jean Harris has guest edited the current edition of this bi-annual review, which highlights Romanian fiction, and as presenter of this collection she will introduce readings from the collection and hold a dialogue with contributor Stelian Tanase, whose fiction appeared last June in the Guardian's "Stories from a New Europe".

Wednesday, 21 April, 11.00: British journalist and author Anthony Daniels will talk about the photo album Kombinat. Industrial Ruins of the Golden Era.

When: 19-21 April 2010; Monday 9.00-18.30, Tuesday 9.00-18.30, Wednesday 9.00-17.00
Where: Earls Court One&Two, London
Tickets: www.londonbookfair.co.uk

Photography, Books And Music (19:00 - 21:00)

To celebrate Romania's presence at the London Book Fair, the Romanian Cultural Institute presents the exhibition Kombinat by Serban Bonciocat, with an introduction by acclaimed writer Anthony Daniels, the author of The Wilder Shores of Marx.

Kombinat: Industrial Ruins of the Golden Era is an outstanding album published by Igloo Media in 2007. The book gathers a generous collection of novelty images: wreckage, as if it was taken from a science-fiction film, of a world where absurdity is ordinary. The communist mega-structures of a utopian economy - towers, earth's entrails burnt in acid containers, bunkers, broken windows, pipes, concrete and bricks - lay down abandoned, while man and nature are strikingly absent.

Books of photographs can form the template or occasion of prolonged meditation and reflection. And of no book of photographs is this more true than of Kombinat. (...)
The vast industrial complex of ruins dominates all: the horizon, the eye, one's very thoughts. There is no escaping it; as there was never any intention that you should be able to escape it.
Anthony Daniels

Kombinat will be open at the Romanian Cultural Institute until 21 May 2010.
Partnership project with

The exhibition will be accompanied by a concert of Romanian ethos and nowadays music (blues, jazz, avant-garde) by Maria Raducanu & Maxim Belciug.

Maria Raducanu, singer and songwriter, was born in Romania, in 1967. Encouraged by her father, she started to play violin and guitar at a very young age, but by the time she was 15, she had already 'discovered' her voice… a voice so hard to describe. Maria Tanase and Edith Piaf were a big influence.

Maxim Belciug is a guitar artist, born in Romania in 1967. He is often invited to play in recitals or involve with the jury in guitar festivals. Once established as a most valuable soloist, he has started to enrich his musical experience, involving in chamber music projects, such as flute and guitar, voice and guitar, or guitar with percussion duo.

When: 21 April, 7 pm
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute London
Admission: free.

Geta Bratescu @ A Foundation (12:00 - 18:00)

Romanian distinguished artist Geta Bratescu takes part in The Economy of the Gift exhibition at A Foundation Liverpool. The show presents eight galleries and eight artists curated by Ticiana Correa, exploring the idea of value in a time of market crisis.

The Economy of the Gift has been designed to build on the cultural legacy of Liverpool's role as European Capital of Culture in 2008 and will be an annual affair.

Participating galleries are: Ivan Gallery (Bucharest), Andréhn-Schiptjenko (Stockholm), Bureau (Manchester), Ceri Hand Gallery (Liverpool), Freymond-Guth & Co Fine Arts (Zurich), The International 3 (Manchester), Jack Hanley Gallery (San Francisco and New York), Workplace Gallery (Gateshead).

Exhibiting artists: Geta Bratescu, Eric Bainbridge, Brass Art, Elodie Pong, Jacob Dahlgren, Mark Harasimowicz, Rebecca Lennon and Shaun O' Dell.

Geta Bratescu was born in 1926 in Ploiesti, being one of the most remarkable personalities of Romanian post-war avant-garde art. Along other artists of 1960s generation, she worked with object, installation and performance, with a focus on serialism, recurrence of patterns and clichés. Bratescu devoted herself to research on her body as an identity object specific for representation, being one of the few artists who studied the relation between the body and the intimate space; she aims constantly to dissipate the boundaries between the spaces of art and of everyday life. She lives and works in Bucharest.

The participation of Geta Bratescu and the Ivan Gallery in The Economy of the Gift is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.

When: 8 April - 22 May 2010, Tue - Sat 12 - 6pm
Where: The Blade Factory, A Foundation, 67 Greenland Street, Liverpool L1 0BY
Admission: is free.

Florin Ungureanu In East Wing Nine: EXHIBITIONISM, The Art Of Display (08:00 - 09:00)
East Wing Nine
EXHIBITIONISM
The Art of Display, at The Courtauld Institute of Art, Somerset House London
http://www.eastwingnine.co.uk , please click and drag the images that appear into to the frame to see more images!

Open to the public first weekend of each month from 23 January 2010 to July 2011.

There are 11 different zones in the show:

1. Introduction
2. Cabinet of Curiosities
3. The Private Collection
4. Distance & Illusion
5. Other Men's Flowers
6. Fragments
7. Pop-up Exhibition
8. Material Boundaries
9. Reproduction
10 Academy Hang: My painting is there!
11. Video

More info on: http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/east_wing/

Francesca Screening @ EastEnd Film Festival (15:15 - 17:15)

The Romanian Cultural Institute supports the screening of the acclaimed drama Francesca in the EastEnd Film Festival, followed by Q&A session with director Bobby Paunescu.

One of the opening films of the 2009 Venice Film Festival, acclaimed drama Francesca is the debut of Bobby Paunescu, a leading Romanian film-maker. Francesca is a young kindergarten teacher whose dream is to leave Romania and migrate to Italy for a better life. She is relying on her boyfriend Mita to join her in Italy as soon as he finishes a small business he's involved in, but her plans are threatened as painful truths come to light. Paunescu expertly builds a tragic sense of entrapment around Francesca's flight.

Cast: Monica Birladeanu, Doru Boguta, Luminita Gheorghiu
Released: 2009
Run Time: 1 hour 34 minutes
In Romanian with English subtitles.

When: Sunday, 25 April 2010, 3.15pm;
Where: Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High Street (corner John Campbell Road), London E8 2PB.
Tickets: www.riocinema.ndirect.co.uk

Romanian Cinema @ New Europe Film Festival 2010 (18:00 - 20:00)

New Europe Film Festival is back for the annual portion of film treasures from Eastern and Central Europe. This year's films come from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia and Romania.

Take your friends and catch an evening show at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh… especially for the award-winning Romanian films The Other Irene by Andrei Gruzsniczki and the debut feature Constantin and Elena by Andrei Dascalescu.

Sunday 18 April, 8.45pm
The Other Irene by Andrei Gruzsniczki
Romania 2009, 1h30m, English subtitles, Cert 15
Cast: Andi Vasluianu, Simona Popescu, Dan Astilean, Doru Ana
Sharing themes as it does with some of the finest European thrillers such as The Vanishing, it's hard to believe The Other Irene is, in fact, based on a true story. Reluctantly, security guard Aurel lets his wife Irene go on a working trip to Cairo. Having had a breath of fresh air, she returns transformed and soon sets out again - but this time she does not come back. Now Aurel's true ordeal begins as he sets out on his own journey: a search for his wife amidst dubious bureaucrats, criminal embassies and hateful in-laws.

Sunday 25 April, 6.00pm
Constantin and Elena by Andrei Dascalescu
Romania/Spain 2008, 1h42m, English subtitles, Cert 12A
In a Romanian village, an elderly couple has been happily married for almost 55 years. Constantin and Elena know that life must end, but are happy with everything that they've had. They fi ll their days with chores in and around the house, going to church and receiving welcome visitors, not to mention a catnap every now and then. This love story tells itself in images, and the fi lmmaker, also the couple's grandson, keeps himself invisible.

The screenings are supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.

Click here for the full festival programme.

When: 18 April, 8.45pm & 25 April, 6.00pm
Where: Filmhouse Cinema, 88 Lothian Road, Edinburgh, EH3 9BZ
Tickets: from www.filmhousecinema.com

Christian Hogas @ Attic Arts (08:00 - 18:00)

Actor and director Christian Hogas is the first of the four successful applicants who take up the ICR London Attic Arts residency in 2010. He will develop a semi-staged performance of the play Bones for Otto by acclaimed Romanian director and actress Lia Bugnar. The play was first performed in Romania in 2003 and won the Fringe-Project Award at the 2004 ESB Dublin Fringe Festival.

The play explores the concerns and prejudices of two women who met in extreme circumstances: a professional prostitute, working on streets to feed her family and an opera singer who desperately needs £500 to fly to New Zeeland for her dream job - the lead role in La Traviata.
Featuring Alice Fernbank (UK) and Andreea Paduraru (Romania).

Project partners: Theatre Royal Stratford East and Young Vic Theatre.

Christian Hogas graduated from the National University of Drama and Film "I.L. Caragiale", Performing Arts department. He worked with various theatres in Bucharest, Budapest and London, both as actor and director.

When: 15 March - 15 May 2010;
Where: Romanian Cultural Institute London.

Special Screening Of ‘Tales From The Golden Age’ (19:00 - 21:00)
The Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre in London invite you to a special screening of

TALES FROM THE GOLDEN AGE

Followed by an informal discussion and wine reception

Tuesday 27 April 2010
19.00, Cinéphilia West, 171 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2RS; Tel. 020 7792 4433
Nearest Tube station: Notting Hill Gate. www.cinephilia.co.uk
Tickets: Free to Cinéphilia Club members, otherwise £5 on the door.

Special Contest for the benefit of all comrade film-lovers:
Win an Invitation for Two and a Film Book!

You could win an invitation for two at the Cinéphilia West screening of ‘Tales from the Golden Age’ if you answer to the following question:

What are the names of director Cristian Mungiu’s feature films?

For your chance to win an extra prize, the well-informed ‘Cinema of the Balkans’ edited by Dina Iordanova (Wallflower Press, 2006), name the director of ‘12:08 East of Bucharest’, the 2006 winner of the Camera d’Or award at Cannes.
Send your replies by Thursday 22 April 2010 at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Don’t forget to include in your message your FULL NAME and a TELEPHONE NUMBER where we can contact you. The winners will be selected through a raffle from all the correct answers received by the end of 22 April 2010, and will be notified in writing at the e-mail address provided.

Tales from the Golden Age (12A)
Romania / 2009 / Romanian with English subtitles. Written by Cristian Mungiu. Directed by Hanno Höfer, Razvan Marculescu, Cristian Mungiu, Constantin Popescu, Ioana Uricaru

‘Tales from the Golden Age’ is a funny, poignant and surreal portrait of 1980s Romania. 2009 marked 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the momentous events which unfolded across Eastern Europe as people took to the streets in public revolt which broke down the Communist regimes, including Ceausescu’s much feared dictatorship. The final 15 years of the Ceausescu regime were the worst in Romania’s history. Nonetheless, the propaganda machine of that time referred without fail to that period as “the golden age”&

The film adapts for screen the most popular urban myths of the period. Comic, bizarre, surprising myths abounded, myths that drew on the often surreal events of everyday life under the communist regime.

‘Tales from the Golden Age’ is made of 6 episodes:
• The Legend of the Official Visit
• The Legend of the Party Photographer
• The Legend of the Zealous Activist
• The Legend of the Chicken Driver
• The Legend of the Greedy Policeman
• The Legend of the Air Sellers

The screening will be followed by an informal discussion on contemporary Romanian cinema.

Organised by Cinéphilia West. With the support of Trinity and the Ratiu Foundation / Romanian Cultural Centre.

Geta Bratescu @ A Foundation (12:00 - 18:00)

Romanian distinguished artist Geta Bratescu takes part in The Economy of the Gift exhibition at A Foundation Liverpool. The show presents eight galleries and eight artists curated by Ticiana Correa, exploring the idea of value in a time of market crisis.

The Economy of the Gift has been designed to build on the cultural legacy of Liverpool's role as European Capital of Culture in 2008 and will be an annual affair.

Participating galleries are: Ivan Gallery (Bucharest), Andréhn-Schiptjenko (Stockholm), Bureau (Manchester), Ceri Hand Gallery (Liverpool), Freymond-Guth & Co Fine Arts (Zurich), The International 3 (Manchester), Jack Hanley Gallery (San Francisco and New York), Workplace Gallery (Gateshead).

Exhibiting artists: Geta Bratescu, Eric Bainbridge, Brass Art, Elodie Pong, Jacob Dahlgren, Mark Harasimowicz, Rebecca Lennon and Shaun O' Dell.

Geta Bratescu was born in 1926 in Ploiesti, being one of the most remarkable personalities of Romanian post-war avant-garde art. Along other artists of 1960s generation, she worked with object, installation and performance, with a focus on serialism, recurrence of patterns and clichés. Bratescu devoted herself to research on her body as an identity object specific for representation, being one of the few artists who studied the relation between the body and the intimate space; she aims constantly to dissipate the boundaries between the spaces of art and of everyday life. She lives and works in Bucharest.

The participation of Geta Bratescu and the Ivan Gallery in The Economy of the Gift is supported by the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.

When: 8 April - 22 May 2010, Tue - Sat 12 - 6pm
Where: The Blade Factory, A Foundation, 67 Greenland Street, Liverpool L1 0BY
Admission: is free.