Conferences

Maia Morgenstern, Medeea Marinescu, Emilia Popescu, Florin Piersic, George Mihăiţă, Alexandru Repan, Marius Manole, Ştefan Bănică, Demeter András,  Pavel Bartoş, are the actors who have joined or are returning in 2022 in the project A Hand for the Poet. The new module, a production of The Culture Club Cultural Association, in partnership with Pro Contemporania, with the support of JTI, will be officially launched on September 27, 2022, at 12.00 pm, at the National Theatre from Bucharest, in the presence of some of the most important actors in the cast of the new season

A Hand for the Poet is a unique project to promote Romanian classical and modern poetry for local and international audiences and can be accessed online at aplauzepentrupoet.thecultureclub.ro or ahandforthepoet.thecultureclub.ro.

Launched in 2021, it consists of a series of video acting recitals that highlight poetic milestones in the Romanian culture. This year, pages dedicated to the poets Miron Radu Paraschivescu, recited by Ștefan Banică, Nina Cassian - poems read by Medeea Marinescu, Benjamin Fondane and Paul Celan, verses interpreted by Maia Morgenstern, Emil Brumaru, in very different versions, signed by Medeea Marinescu and Marius Manole, Gellu Naum, translated by Marius Manole or Traian Demetrescu, revealed by Pavel Bartoș.

Among the new releases, a special position is occupied by Florin Piersic's recital, which adds to the existing pages with poems by Coșbuc and Minulescu, but also opens new pages with verses by Adrian Păunescu, Leonida Lari, Costache Ioanid, Dominic Stanca.

The lyric poetry of Ion Minulescu, George Topârceanu, Tudor Arghezi, Lucian Blaga, Marin Sorescu or Mihai Eminescu enjoys new interpretative approaches, adding other poems from their volumes.

Other novel elements are moments of Romanian poetry translated into French - performed by Emilia Popescu - or into Hungarian - performed by Demeter András. Together with the English versions already available on the portal, they broaden the international scope of the project.

The recitals, filmed during 2021 and 2022, are prefaced by a brief written introduction for each poet and illustrated with archival photographs, manuscript excerpts and bilingual commentary on their poetic art.

It should be recalled that the actors Ion Caramitru, Mircea Rusu, Emilia Popescu, Andras Istvan Demeter, Mihaela Rădescu, Alex Ștefănescu, Cătălin Frăsinescu, and in a second stage Victor Rebengiuc, Mariana Mihuț, Rodica Mandache, Mihai Mălaimare, Constantin Chiriac, Cristian Șofron participated in the filming in 2021, some of the poems being presented in English, read by Michael Pennington and Anamaria Marinca.

The initiative is both an act of restitution and an approach to support a cultural field marginalized in contemporary times, enhancing poetry through the art of acting, speaking, image. A Hand for the Poet will be continued with other big names, aiming to contribute to a better knowledge of the most important classical and modern Romanian poets, in their original form, but also through established translations in English and French, all in a manner accessible to today's audience, for whom the main cultural vehicle is the internet.

The project was produced by a team coordinated by Ovidiu Miculescu - general producer and Oltea Șerban-Pârâu - executive producer. The filming of the 2022 session took place within the ArCuB and CreART halls, the productions being signed by Virgil Oprina - director of photography / editing, Attila Vizauer - artistic director.

Producer: The Culture Club

With the support of: JTI

Main partner: Pro Contemporania

Cultural partnerships: University of Bucharest, National Museum of Romanian Literature, Romanian Cultural Institute, National Theatre of Bucharest, ArCuB - Cultural Projects Centre of the Municipality of Bucharest, CREART - Centre for Creation, Art and Tradition of the Municipality of Bucharest, University of Bucharest, National Museum of Romanian Literature, Romanian Cultural Institute.

Media partners: Radio România Cultural, Radio România Regional, România TV, Liternet, Agentiadecarte, Mediatrust, Webcultura

aplauzepentrupoet.thecultureclub.ro

ahandforthepoet.thecultureclub.ro

2022 presentation spot

https://youtu.be/KuPDQ8OWE5M

JTI is among the first multinational companies to invest locally since 1993, being recognized for supporting the most important cultural events in Romania: FITS, TIFF, SoNoRo, Fairytale Tours - classical music in small towns. JTI is also the official sponsor of Gigi Căciuleanu Romania Dance Company.  The JTI meetings, which have become a national cultural brand for contemporary dance, reached this year their 23rd edition "giving consistency to our artistic life". In the inclusion efforts of the last period, JTI supports the projects COOLsound.ro - online about the Romanian independent scene and A Hand for the Poet.

Special thanks to:

Mrs. Gilda Lazăr, Head of Corporate Affairs & Communications, JTI Romania, Moldova & Bulgaria
Professor Dr. Liviu Papadima, Prorector of the University of Bucharest
Mr. Ioan Cristescu, Director al Muzeului Naţional al Literaturii Române
Mrs. Mihaela Păun, Director ArCuB – Cultural Projects Centre of the Municipality of Bucharest
Mrs. Claudia Popa, Director CREART – Centre for Creation, Art and Tradition of the Municipality of Bucharest
Mr. Mircea Rusu, acting General Director of the National Theatre Bucharest

Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu