NTB Conferences

Video-streaming On Sunday, May 5th, 2019, from 11.00 a.m., Ioan Stanomir shall hold the conference entitled Romania, 1989 / 2019 - a Photograph, after Thirty Years. About the ConferenceWhere are we, three decades after 1989? What are the factors that shaped contemporary Romania? What is the place of this interval during the 19th century since 1918? These are the questions from which the present conference departs. It does not intend to give definitive answers, but only to encourage the exercise of patriotic lucidity. Without the latter, our homeland cannot build a future based on freedom and human dignity. Ioan Stanomir About Ioan StanomirIoan Stanomir is a professor at the Faculty of Political Science at the University of Bucharest. The published volumes include Conservative Consciousness: Preliminaries to an Intellectual Profile (2004), A Vanished World: Four Personal Histories Followed by a Dialogue with H.-R. Patapievici (co-author, together with Paul Cernat, Angelo Mitchievici and Ion Manolescu, 2004), Explorations in Romanian Communism (coauthor, Paul Cernat, Angelo Mitchievici and Ion Manolescu, vol. , Conservative Spirit: From Barbu Catargiu to Nicolae Iorga (2008), OnSounds and Memory: Fragments of the History of Ideas (2009), The Defense of Freedom (1938-1947) (2010), Teodoreanu Reloaded (with Angelo Mitchievici, Shadows on the Canvas of Time: Sequences of Intellectual History (Humanitas, 2011), Junimism and the Passion of Moderation (Humanitas, 2013), The Russian Sphynx: Ideas, Identities and Obsessions (2015), Communism inc. (alongside Angelo Mitchievici, Humanitas, 2016), Russia, 1917: The Bleeding Sun. Autocracy, Revolution and Authoritarianism (Humanitas, 2017), essay Shadow of Russia in the collective volume The Russians Are Coming! 5 Perspectives on a Dangerous Neighborhood (Humanitas, 2018), At the Centenary. Rereading the Century of Great Romania (Humanitas, 2018).   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu   

Video-streaming On Sunday, April 7th, 2019, at 11.00 at the NTB Small Hall TNB, Andrei Oisteanu shall hold the conference on the Jews of Romania in a European context: similarities and differences. About the Conference The history of the Jews in Romania is less well known in the world. Other Jewish communities in Eastern Europe (Russia, Poland and even Hungary) were more vocal and more visible. I am trying to colour this stain, if not white, at least gray. Especially because it was a large and important community. In 1939, the Great Romanian Jews counted about a million souls, being the third community in Europe and the fourth largest in the world, after Poland, the Soviet Union, and the USA. A quasi-heterogeneous, but unitary community with a special contribution to Romania's political, economic and cultural history. One third of them died in the Holocaust, others fled from communism. The fundamental event that marked the difference between the Jews in Romania and those in Europe was the failure to grant Romanian-Jewish citizenship with the adoption of the "liberal" Constitution of 1866. Romania missed the synchronization with Europe, a fact with major socio-political-cultural consequences: the emergence of economic antisemitism (in addition to the racial and religious one); the strengthening of their own community institutions; the premature emergence of the Zionist movement in the Romanian space, etc. The Jews in Romania are different because (and to the extent that) Romania is different. Andrei Oisteanu About Andrei Oisteanu Andrei Oisteanu is an anthropologist, historian of religions and mentalities, being a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute of Religious History (Romanian Academy). He is associate professor at the Hebrew Studies Center (Bucharest University). He is a member of the Social Dialogue Group. In recent years he published the following books at the Polirom Publishing House: The Image of the Jew in Romanian Culture (2012), a book translated into English, German, French, Hungarian and Italian (several awards in Romania, Italy, Belgium, Israel, , B'nai B'rith Europe Award, Writers Union Award - Bucharest Association); The Garden of the World Beyond (2012); The Box with Old People (2012); Order and Chaos. Myth and Magic in Traditional Romanian Culture (2013), translated into English and Italian; Religion, Politics and Myth. Texts about Mircea Eliade and IP Culianu (2014); Narcotics in Romanian Culture (2014), translated into German (Special Prize of the Writers’ Union); Sexuality and Society. History, Religion and Literature (2016, 2018), English translation (The Writers of the Year 2016 Award). Andrei Oisteanu was awarded by the Romanian President the Order of the Star of Romania (2006) and by the Italian President the Order of Stella della Solidarietà Italiana (2005).   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Video-streaming On Sunday, February 24th, 2019, from 11.00 at the NTB Small Hall, Toni Grecu shall hold the conference with the topic Let Us Be Joyful Lest We Are Sad. About Toni Grecu Born in 1959 in Iasi, Toni Grecu attended the Electronics and Telecommunications Faculty of Iasi, performing shows either individually or in various formulas in the student literary circles. At the same time, he launches together with other colleagues the Divertis Group. The engineering career is short, intense and insignificant, but helps him reach Bucharest, where, immediately after the Revolution, he gives up computers and devotes himself exclusively to artistic activity, both on stage and on television. In the eighties, Divertis goes on several tours around the country at student events such as the Amphitheater Galas, the Moldavia Literary Circle, the Sea or the Snow Celebrations. In 1983, he won the first prize at the National Student Humour Festival, both individually, at the monologue section and with Divertis. In 1988, alongside Doru Antonesi, he writes the text for the one-man show "I am Staying Home Tonight", staged by Silviu Purcarete and starring master Stefan Iordache at the Small Theater. It was an appreciated performance, unique in its way primarily for the courage and harshness of satire on topical subjects. The representation, which was sold out, seemed to predict the end of the communist regime. Since 1990, he has been working with Divertis on television, first on TVR and then on Pro TV and Antena 1 as a presenter and screenwriter. Along with Divertis, he has performed over 1,000 shows and hundreds of TV shows, achieving true audience records. He retires from Divertis in 2008 and continues the series of TV shows in a new formula with the project "Romanian Comedy Service" at Pro TV for another five years. He then creates the news comedy show "Superjournal" at Digi24 for two seasons in 2015. Meanwhile, he and Adrian Onciu write together the script of the comedy The Bride Was Stolen in 2012 and produce the sitcom Dementia Hospital in 2012-2013 also for Pro TV. Following the general trend, in 2016, he began working as a screenwriter and developer of comedy projects for the online environment that gathers millions of views. He resumes the stage activity and, together with Catalina Grama - Jojo, Catalin Neamtu, Claudiu Maier and Cosmin Natanticu, he creates the humour show One day in my life, a mix of comedy of several genres, monologue, impro, sketch, stand-up , parody, imitation, which shall soon be resumed in a new season. Toni Grecu, who in 2010 received the UNITER Award for Entertainment, "for His contribution to the living history of Romanian humour," shall hold a conference on humour, schadenfreude and pool cormorants at the Bucharest National Theatre.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Video-streaming On Sunday, 21 May 2017, from 11.00, in the Small Hall of NTB, Mr. Ștefan Cazimir shall hold the conference on the topic Brief History of the Party of Free Change. About the Conference „The history of the Party of Free Change is an ample footnote to a replica of the Lost Letter. The destiny of Caragiale’s oeuvre, more than a century since its conception, thus registers a unique avatar, which no other work has experienced until nowadays and it is improbable that it shall experience it in the future. The place of the Party of Free Change in the post-December history is definitively fixed, whereas the originality of its genesis and its manifestations have the power to render it unmistakable. Countless political settlements shall fall into oblivion, after having filled with their frenzy for a while, and the Party of Free Change shall continue to intrigue, to amuse, bewilder and set us wondering, like its spiritual patron, who pushed it from fiction to reality.” Ștefan Cazimir About Ștefan Cazimir Man of learning, man of letters, man of the citadel, Ștefan Cazimir was born in Iași on 10 November 1932, he followed the elementary and secondary classes in Piatra Neamț, and the higher studies at the Philological Faculty of the University of Bucharest. Member of the Romanian Literature chair within the same faculty (1955 - 2001), he traversed all the levels of the teaching hierarchy up to the degree of professor. PhD in Philology (1967). Distinguished professor (2011). He entered the political life in 1990, as founding President of the Party of Free Change. Deputy in three mandates (1990-‘92, 1992-‘96, 2000-‘04). Decorated with the Kangaroo Order to the rank of Grand Master. Member of the Writers’s Guild of Romania. Published volumes (selection): Caragiale – the Comic Universe, 1967; Recollections on Caragiale (anthology), 1972; Cardinal Stars: Essay on Eminescu, 1975; Anthology of Lyric Humour, 1977; Pygmalion: Essay of Comparative Mythology, 1982; Not Only Caragiale, 1984; I. L. Caragiale Facing the Kitsch, 1988; Laughter in the Parliament, 1994; Caragiale Is With Us, 1997; Why, Uncle Iancu?, 1998; Caragiale recidivus, 2002; Epistle to Odobescu, 2010; La Belle Époque. The Lie Comes from the East. The Confession of the „Exes”, 2013; The Sword and the Empire, 2017. Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Difuzare online On Sunday, December 2nd, 2018, from 11.00 a.m., in the NTB Painting Hall, Ana Blandiana shall hold the conference entitled The Centennial, an Exercise of Exorcism. About the Conference We are the descendants of everything that happened in this last century, starting with the miraculous effort which gave meaning to the previous millennia. We are the descendants of Romanians who accomplished Great Romania and we are the descendants of Romanians who imprisoned and buried these in the Sighet Cemetery of the Poor. The Centennial is not a celebration, it is the occasion forcing us and giving us the chance to opt for whom we want to pursue, to whom we want to further resemble, which are the role models we wish to follow. But this implies first of all the knowledge of the content of the 100 years and accepting the history they comprise. Ana Blandiana About Ana Blandiana Originating from Timişoara, Ana Blandiana was born in 1942. Her name at birth was Otilia Valeria Coman, and after the marriage to writer Romulus Rusan it became Otilia Valeria Rusan. The close ones call her Doina, but the "nickname" which brought her fame is the pseudonym Ana Blandiana. (The poet composed it by taking over the melodic name of the village - Blandiana, from Alba County – where her mother was born and deriving a first name from it as well.) After attending the courses of the Faculty of Philology of the Cluj University (1962-1967), Ana Blandiana settles down in Bucharest, where she works as an editor at the Student Life and Amphitheatre (1968-1974), librarian at the "N. Grigorescu" Institute of Bucharest (1975-1977), editor at the Writers’ Guild (1977-1979). Before even being a student, she celebrates her debut with the poem Originality in the Tribune magazine of Cluj (1959). From 1960-1963, she is forbidden to publish, due to political reasons. Starting with 1964, her signature may be encountered again in the literary press, especially in The Contemporary, where she is entrusted with a weekly column of notations (Antijournal). Still in 1964, she publishes her first book of verse, First Person Plural, drawing the attention of the literary critics. Thus, when she settles in Bucharest, she is no longer a stranger. In 1969, she receives moreover the Poetry Prize of the Writers’ Guild (the first from a long list of prizes: the Poetry Prize of the Romanian Academy, 1970, Bucharest, the Prose Award of the Writers’ Guild of Bucharest, the International Herder Prize, Vienna, 1982, the "Opera omnia" Prize, 1994, the National Poetry Prize, 1997, the Poetry Prize of the Writers’ Guild, 2000 etc.). The poetry books published every two-three years (which are translated abroad), the countless literary criticism articles dedicated to her, the publishing activity (her column Atlas from Literary Romania becomes a weekly event), the journeys abroad (starting with the 6-month scholarship to the USA in 1973-1974), the certainty with which she makes her prose debut (The Four Seasons, 1977) confer to Ana Blandiana an unusual prestige. Disobedient as a responsible character, not as a recalcitrant one, Ana Blandiana reads at her encounters with the audience at the height of Ceauşescu’s dictatorship poems-manifestos thrilling the audience: "It shall come,/ It cannot be otherwise,/ It shall come/ That day/ Adjourned for centuries,/ It shall come/ It draws near,/ It can also be heard/ Its pulse beating/ Between the horizons,/ It shall come,/ It can be felt in the air,/ it can no longer be late,/ Do not doubt, it shall come/ That day/ Blinding as a sword/ Vibrating in the light." (Dies ille, dies irae). In 1985, a series of her poems charged with political dynamite, published in the Amphitheatre magazine, alarms the authorities. And in 1988, after she publishes the verse volume Occurrences on My Street, with numerous sarcastic references to the regime, she is forbidden, as a punishment, to publish in Romania. The wave of the revolution from December 1989 brings her to the heterogeneous leading team of the country, the National Council of the National Salvation Front. Earlier than other intellectuals, Ana Blandiana leaves the group. She sets up and leads the Civic Alliance Foundation, to which a great part of the Romanian civil society adheres, creates in Sighet, with superhuman efforts and sacrifices, joined by her husband, Romulus Rusan, the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance, and leads the Romanian PEN Club. She plays a key role in imposing politician Emil Constantinescu as Romanian President in the time frame 1996-2000, but she does not refrain from criticising his lack of firmness in promoting democratic values. Biography by Alex Ștefănescu   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu  

Video-streaming Within the framework of the National Theatre Conferences, on Sunday, 20 November 2016, 11.00 a.m., the Painting Hall shall exceptionally host an encounter with writer Ana Blandiana. The unmistakable voice of the poet, known both from the lecture of her own verses, and from the balcony of the University Square, shall resonate in a free talk about the power of writing, moderated by Ion Caramitru. Alongside Ana Blandiana, other three young actresses of the National Theatre of Bucharest shall recite from her oeuvre: Florentina Țilea, Fulvia Folosea and Alexandra Sălceanu. Authoress of countless books of poetry, prose and memoirs translated into 24 languages of the world, but also of numerous press articles, Ana Blandiana is the holder, among many other distinctions, of the Herder Prize, of the Romanian Academy Award, but also of the Legion of Honour granted by the French state for her outstanding writing and civic merits. About Ana Blandiana Originating from Timişoara, Ana Blandiana was born in 1942. Her name at birth was Otilia Valeria Coman, and after the marriage to writer Romulus Rusan it became Otilia Valeria Rusan. The close ones call her Doina, but the "nickname" which brought her fame is the pseudonym Ana Blandiana. (The poet composed it by taking over the melodic name of the village - Blandiana, from Alba County – where her mother was born and deriving a first name from it as well.) After attending the courses of the Faculty of Philology of the Cluj University (1962-1967), Ana Blandiana settles down in Bucharest, where she works as an editor at the Student Life and Amphitheatre (1968-1974), librarian at the "N. Grigorescu" Institute of Bucharest (1975-1977), editor at the Writers’ Guild (1977-1979). Before even being a student, she celebrates her debut with the poem Originality in the Tribune magazine of Cluj (1959). From 1960-1963, she is forbidden to publish, due to political reasons. Starting with 1964, her signature may be encountered again in the literary press, especially in The Contemporary, where she is entrusted with a weekly column of notations (Antijournal). Still in 1964, she publishes her first book of verse, First Person Plural, drawing the attention of the literary critics. Thus, when she settles in Bucharest, she is no longer a stranger. In 1969, she receives moreover the Poetry Prize of the Writers’ Guild (the first from a long list of prizes: the Poetry Prize of the Romanian Academy, 1970, Bucharest, the Prose Award of the Writers’ Guild of Bucharest, the International Herder Prize, Vienna, 1982, the "Opera omnia" Prize, 1994, the National Poetry Prize, 1997, the Poetry Prize of the Writers’ Guild, 2000 etc.). The poetry books published every two-three years (which are translated abroad), the countless literary criticism articles dedicated to her, the publishing activity (her column Atlas from Literary Romania becomes a weekly event), the journeys abroad (starting with the 6-month scholarship to the USA in 1973-1974), the certainty with which she makes her prose debut (The Four Seasons, 1977) confer to Ana Blandiana an unusual prestige. Disobediant as a responsible character, not as a recalcitrant, Ana Blandiana reads at her encounters with the audience at the height of Ceauşescu’s dictatorship poems-manifestos thrilling the audience: "It shall come,/ It cannot be otherwise,/ It shall come/ That day/ Adjourned for centuries,/ It shall come/ It draws near,/ It can also be heard/ Its pulse beating/ Between the horizons,/ It shall come,/ It can be felt in the air,/ it can no longer be late,/ Do not doubt, it shall come/ That day/ Blinding as a sword/ Vibrating in the light." (Dies ille, dies irae). In 1985, a series of her poems charged with political dynamite, published in the Amphitheatre magazine, alarms the authorities. And in 1988, after she publishes the verse volume Occurrences on My Street, with numerous sarcastic references to the regime, she is forbidden, as a punishment, to publish in Romania. The wave of the revolution from December 1989 brings her to the heterogeneous leading team of the country, the National Council of the National Salvation Front. Earlier than other intellectuals, Ana Blandiana leaves the group. She sets up and leads the Civic Alliance Foundation, to which a great part of the Romanian civil society adheres, creates in Sighet, with superhuman efforts and sacrifices, joined by her husband, Romulus Rusan, the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance, and leads the Romanian PEN Club. She plays a key role in imposing politician Emil Constantinescu as Romanian President in the time frame 1996-2000, but she does not hesitate to criticise his lack of firmness in promoting democratic values. Biography by Alex Ștefănescu Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Video-streaming On Sunday, 7 May 2017, from 11.00 a.m., in the Small Hall of NTB, Mrs. Lavinia Betea shall hold the conference entitled What To Do With the „Village Fool”?   About the Conference What to do with the “village fool”? Over time, the representations and treatments applied to men with mental disorders have been manifold. Throughout the „long periods” of history, Romanian traditional communities have often conferred him the aura of the „half-witted” who shall rule, in eternal life, over the kingdom of heaven. Other times, he has been attributed the gift of prophecy, “the Maglavit Saint” (1935-1938) being one example in this regard. In other representations, the man who lived and talked otherwise was the embodiment of the duality man-devil or man-animal. The pathology and institutional treatment of mental disorders commenced in Romania at the beginning of the 20th century, going through different stages. The social representation of the „village fool” bears the fingerprint of religious beliefs, dominant ideological movements, state policies etc. Overall, however, the number of those suffering from diverse mental disorders is continuously on the rise. A diagnosis of „our Zeitgeist” induces drivers such as the ideology of consumerism, the excessive media consumption, the stress of change, the mythology of life coaching etc. How do we, Romanians, behave faced with such threats? How great is the distance between the potential and the social policies of the rich countries of the European Union and the ex-communist ones? Is the Romanian mass-media a curse or a blessing in the depiction of the „village fool”? These are only some of the assertions and questions articulating the reflection on the representations of „madness” and the mental health policies. Lavinia Betea     About Lavinia Betea She graduated from the Faculty of History-Philosophy, department of Philosophy-History and holds a PhD in psychology at the „Babeş-Bolyai” University of Cluj-Napoca. Currently, she is a professor of social and political psychology at the „Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad. She is an author and co-author of over 20 volumes published by prestigious publishing houses in Romania and abroad on topics of political psychology and history of communism. For the purpose of documentation on the backstage of power, she wrote books of interviews with former communist leaders and victims of the “class struggle”. She also performed thorough archive researches. The published works include: The Keeper of Ceauşescu’s Secrets. He was Known as Machaivelli. Ştefan Andrei in Dialogue with Lavinia Betea (Adevărul, 2011); Stories from the Primăverii Neighbourhood (Curtea Veche Publishing, 2010); Men and Women. Encounters with Serge Moscovici (Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing, 2007); I Went to Jilava in Summer Shoes. Conversations with Ioana Berindei (Compania, 2006); Communist Mentalitiesand Residuals. Psychological Aspects (Nemira, 2005); Corneliu Mănescu in Dialogue with Lavinia Betea; Unfinished Talks (Polirom, 2001); Political Psychology. Individual, Leader, Crowd under the Communist Regime (Polirom, 2001); Alexandru Bârlădeanu on Dej, Ceauşescu and Iliescu (Evenimentul românesc, 1997).She coordinated The Biography of Ceaușescu (Cetatea de Scaun, 2015, Adevărul 2013, 2012). She was distinguished with the Romanian Academy Awards for the book Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu – the Death of a Communist Leader (Humanitas, 2001). She collaborated on approximately one hundred articles for scientific magazines with international visibility. She founded and managed the specialised magazine Societal and Political Psychology International Review. She took part in specialised conferences and symposiums in France, Italy, Mexico, Hungary, Ukraine, Tunisia, Portugal, Indonesia, and Serbia. She worked as a journalist of written press and television. She managed the section of recent history of the daily newspapers Jurnalul Național and Adevărul and is collaborating with the Romanian National Television in the production of a series of historical documentaries. Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Video-streaming On Sunday, 27 March 2016, as of 11.00 a.m., in the Black Box Hall of NTB, Mrs. Lavinia Betea shall hold the conference on the topic The Psychology of Communism. About the conference “The communist ideology aimed at the utopia of the “new man”. A psychological project, actually, pursuing the formation of a planetary community. Men would have resembled each other, like atoms, in terms of wealth, conduct and dreams. To this end, tremendous institutional and financial efforts have been undertaken. Millions of people have been murdered, tortured, imprisoned and deported. Three generations have been educated and re-educated in the spirit of living in a collective and for a collective. What is left of the ,,new man” in our days? A question that I shall answer based upon the research of communist history and the investigations performed through the method of cross-examination on a sample in successive probings”. Lavinia Betea About Lavinia Betea She graduated from the Faculty of History and Philosophy, department for Philosophy-History and she holds a PhD in Psychology from the „Babeş-Bolyai” University of Cluj-Napoca. She is currently a professor for Social and Political Psychology at the „Aurel Vlaicu” University of Arad. She is an author and co-author of over 20 volumes published by prestigious publishing houses in Romania and abroad on topics of political psychology and history of Communism. For the purpose of documentation on the backstage of power, she wrote books of interviews with former communist leaders and victims of the ,,class struggle”. She also performed thorough archive researches. Among the published works, we retain: The Keeper of Ceauşescu’s Secrets. He was Known as Machaivelli. Ştefan Andrei in Dialogue with Lavinia Betea (Adevărul, 2011); Stories from the Primăverii Neighbourhood (Curtea Veche Publishing, 2010); Men and Women. Encounters with Serge Moscovici (Romanian Cultural Foundation Publishing, 2007); I Went to Jilava in Summer Shoes. Conversations with Ioana Berindei (Compania, 2006);Communist Mentalities and Residuals. Psychological Aspects (Nemira, 2005); Corneliu Mănescu in Dialogue with Lavinia Betea; Unfinished Talks (Polirom, 2001); Political Psychology. Individual, Leader, Crowd under the Communist Regime (Polirom, 2001); Alexandru Bârlădeanu on Dej, Ceauşescu and Iliescu (Evenimentul românesc, 1997). She coordinated the trilogy The Biography of Ceaușescu (Cetatea de Scaun, 2015, Adevărul 2013, 2012). She was distinguished with the Romanian Academy Awards for the book Lucrețiu Pătrășcanu – the Death of a Communist Leader (Humanitas, 2001). She collaborated on approximately one hundred articles for scientific magazines with international visibility. She founded and managed the specialised magazine Societal and Political Psychology International Review. She took part in specialised conferences and symposiums in France, Italy, Mexico, Hungary, Ukraine, Tunisia, Portugal, Indonesia, and Serbia. She worked as a journalist for the written press and television. She led the recent history department of the daily newspapers Jurnalul Național and Adevărul and she collaborated with the Romanian National Television in the creation of historical documentary series.     Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Video-streaming On Sunday, 14 May 2017, from 11.00 a.m., in the NTB Painting Hall, Gigi Căciuleanu shall hold the conference About Dance: Lines, Routes, Signs, Meanings…. About the Conference Lines can be traced, on paper, on a screen, on a school blackboard, namely on any even surface, thus turning into letters, words or drawings. But they can also be traced in the four dimensions, of the space-time continuum. Then becoming dynamics and vitality. Our steps draw Routes on floors and streets; the wheels draw them on the bumpy planes of geography. Planes leave three-dimensional traces in the sky. All these represent Signs visible and decipherable to those owning the necessary key to do so. Becoming communication tools between observing and rational beings. And for those who wish to, they also offer Meanings (more or less hidden!), whose lecture depends on the preparation of the one willing to dig and find ... Metaphors. The dance is, among so many others, both line and route, both sign and meaning. All these connecting between themselves some dots / instants. If I were to give a definition of the Choreography concept, I would name it: the most beautiful and interesting path between two imaginary dots. This is why Poetry mirrors itself in Dance. Under the title L’Om GiGi: Lines_Routes_Signs_Meanings, the “I.L. Caragiale” National Theatre of Bucharest has the special pleasure to invite you to an incursion into the creative laboratory of internationally acclaimed artist Gigi Căciuleanu, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary. Thus, the National Theatre has scheduled two events focused around the exceptional artistic personality of artist Gigi Căciuleanu: on Thursday, 11 May 2017, from 8:00 p.m., Studio Hall – the show Our Kind of Stuff, probably the most unusual show inspired by Caragiale’s oeuvre; a complex artistic production, a choreographic carousel with a heterogenous musical illustration passing through Mozart, Vivaldi, Beethoven up to DJ Vasile and Vlaicu Golcea and the conference on 14 May 2017.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu 

Video-streaming On Sunday, 13 March 2016, 11.00 a.m., at the Black Box Hall of NTB, Mr. Ion Pop shall hold the conference on the topic Tristan Tzara, Dadaism and the Romanian Avant-Garde. About the Conference Dedicated to the centenary of the Dada movement, launched in Zürich in February 1916, the conference aims at sketching a critical portrait of the main Dadaist mentor who was Tristan Tzara, starting with his training years as a Romanian poet, in the post-symbolist atmosphere of Bucharest, alongside young men like Ion Vinea, Adrian Maniu and others. The „first poems” written in 1913-1915 shall be commented upon, before the poet went to study in Switzerland, as a preparation phase for what was to become the „Zürich riot”. In the centre of the presentation shall be the timespan 1916-1921, of the Seven Dada Manifestos, significantly illustrated by the poetic production marked by the movement’s programme and spirit, with important consequences over the entire oeuvre, e.g. in the ample landmark poem Approximate Man (1931). The third sequence of the lecture shall be dedicated to the Dadaist echoes in the Romanian avant-garde landscape, also registering the presence of Tristan Tzara through collaborations sent to inland avant-garde magazines, which were printing in parallel his verses written in Romanian, which were kept in his friends’ archives. Natural references to the international context, in which the Dada movement was born and thrived, are taken into account in order to highlight the particular place this moment plays in the literary and artistic life of the first decades of the 20th century. About Ion Pop He was born on July 1st 1941, in Mireşu Mare, Maramureş county. He was a professor at the Faculty of Letters of the “Babeş-Bolyai” University of Cluj-Napoca (1964 - 2007). He managed, as an editor-in-chief and director, the cultural magazine for students “Equinox” (1969 - 1983). He worked as an associate assistant professor at the Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 University (1973 - 1976), and in 1990 - 1993 he acted as a director of the Romanian Cultural Centre in the French capital. In 2015, he was elected a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy. Published poetry collections: Proposals for a Fountain (1966), My Wretched Prudence (1969), Late Grammar (1977), The Sun and Oblivion (1985), General Postponement (1990), The Discovery of the Eye (2002), Offensive Elegies (2003), Letters and Bees (2010), Facing the Sea (2011), The Staircase (2015). Literary criticism and history: Romanian Poetic Avant-Garde (1969), The Poetry of a Generation (1973), Nichita Stănescu – the Poetic Space and Masks (1980), Lucian Blaga. The Lyrical Universe (1981), Fragmented Readings (1983), The Game of Poetry (1985), The Avant-Garde in Romanian Literature (1990), Writing and Being. Ilarie Voronca and the Metamorphosis of Poetry (1993), Gellu Naum. Poetry against Literature (2001), Life and Texts (2001), Lucian Blaga in 10 Poems (2004), Introduction to the Romanian Literary Avant-Garde (2007), « Equinox ».Voices of Poetry (2008), From Avant-Garde to Rear Guard (2010), The Ladder in the Library (2013). Journalism: French Hours, I, 1979; II, 2002); Interviews. Between Biography and Bibliography (2011); Daily Disorder (2012). He coordinated the Analytical Dictionary of the Romanian Literary Oeuvre (4 vol. 1998-2003, final edition 2007). He compiled an anthology of the Romanian literary avant-garde, La réhabilitation du rêve, Paris-Bucharest, 2006, and the anthology Romanian Avant-Garde, Bucharest, 2015. He translated books by Georges Poulet, Jean Starobinski, Gérard Genette, Tzvetan Todorov, Eugène Ionesco, Tristan Tzara, Ilarie Voronca, Paul Ricœur, Benjamin Fondane, Paul Morand.   Translated by Simona Nichiteanu