IMPACT

“We reached the northern part of Europe, beyond the Arctic Circle, in the region of Finnmark or Lapland to meet the indigenous people of Saami. (…) Most of them live in the northern of Norway (40,000), and the rest in Finland, Sweden and Kola Peninsula. (…) Hundreds of years ago they were nomad, travelling mostly in one of the Scandinavian countries while today, though a minority population, they have their own parliament and are considered to be one of the most well-preserved minority culture in the world”.

“The first ever such intercultural initiative within the Danube Clisura region aiming at bringing together the young in order to understand intercultural diversity, to make the full of the cultural and human resources and to promote them within the multi-ethnic communities”.

“The sacrificing of pigs and calves for steaks, preparation of stuffed cabbages (sarmale), loafs, cakes, and bread wheels are just a few of the secrets of the gastronomic arts preserved by the community caterers (socăcițe), the arts that the project team members want to bring back to our times”.

“An animated short film meant to raise awareness on the negative effects of people’s lack of involvement in the life of their community and in protecting the environment. The film also focuses on the negative effects of the lack of communication caused by the preference for creating online interpersonal relationships, at the expense of real-world ones”.

“The Romanian culture is based on a mosaic of material and immaterial values, with important influences coming from the ethnic minorities. Among the material values we mention urban centres, traditional villages, fortifications, churches, art objects etc.

“In the last 20 years the ethnical map of Romania had significant changes which include the appearance of new minority groups. Bucharest, a city with too little data to be considered cosmopolitan, houses communities of different foreigners, from British and Italian to Chinese, Lebanese, Turkish and Indian.

“Stories from the schoolyard” is a project that used theatre to encourage education, personal development and the use of creativity for children living in Ferentari, a ghetto-type neighborhood of Bucharest. With the support of the children involved in the project and professional artists, a antidiscrimination campaign was launched by the release of two videos highlighting the effects of discrimination”.

“Balkanik is a multidisciplinary project which illustrates and promotes the cultural heritage of the Balkans, highlighted by a variety of artistic expressions: traditional folk groups and brass bands, but also musicians who reinterpret in a contemporary fashion Balkan music, painters, sculptors and photographers, artisans and designers, dancers and acrobats, plus the culinary art of diverse ethnic groups living in Bucharest.

„Chororo – music of Europe beyond prejudices is an animation shortmovie aiming at the promotion of tolerance and cultural diversity. The film captures the story of a Roma boy, Zavaidoc, who, in the spring of 1941 travels from Bucharest to Paris, in an Europe that was torn apart by the war, wishing to find his idol: the well-known jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. This trip will forever change his life”.

“According to the tradition of Transylvania villages, the community caterers (socăcițele) are present to all the major events in the village life – weddings, christenings and almsgivings. Their craft – community catering (socăcitul) – is not an easy one, but it is essential for the community member meetings, because only the community caterers (socăcițele) know how to prepare a delicious food and a good plum brandy (palinca) boiled with rye that bring the joy and the wellbeing, or the devout commemoration for hundreds of guests”.

“The film Challenging Boundaries is a documentary about two small groups from the Roma community that have strived to make a better life for themselves through hard work and art. Screened for the first time during Photo Romania Festival in May 2015, the film presents a collection of short stories about those two groups that have succeeded to stay true to their traditions in the 21st century while struggling with discrimination, poverty, bureaucracy and their own motivations.

“Photo Romania 2015 means the sequel of an idea started more than 5 years ago, now presented in the form of hundreds of events: tenths of exhibitions, workshops, conferences and speeches, with Romanian and foreign guests, with a large visibility both here and all over Europe. It means one step closer to developing and recognising photography as an art among arts. It means passion expressed through images”.

“Published with the purpose of documenting and analysing various forms and experiences of living in a big city as Bucharest, the volume „From streets to residential ensembles. Eight hypostases of living in contemporary Bucharest” presents from a personal perspective different housing experiences in the city of our time.

“From the city centre to Grigorescu and Gheorgheni districts, from cultural establishments to the Someș riverside and none the less from parks to pubs, the jazz spirit animated the city in 2015. Everywhere, the same atmosphere, the same feeling of pure enjoyment and retreat from the tumult of the city. Everywhere, the same friendly and kind people, who know how to have fun, but are also keen on helping the community”.

“Bucharest Housing Stories is a documentary series about diversity of the housing experience in Bucharest and the neighboring surroundings. The project is composed of seven episodes focused on different dwelling spaces and housing forms – blocks from the Communist period, new residential areas, ghetto neighborhoods, dormitories, public spaces (homeless living), former nationalized houses and homes from suburban areas – and follows the diverse experiences of 21 characters.

“The project proposed a public awareness campaign and affirmative measures to enhance the capacity of the vulnerable group of Roma children to express their ethnic origin openly and without fear of being labeled or marginalized and to access inclusive education and a dignified life through the recognition of their potential to reach high-performance levels in the educational domains of choice”.