Exhibitions
Exhibition of photographic portraits - Love that breaks down walls
Intrare liberă / Free entrance
During this month of December, marked, among others, by the International Human Rights Day (December 10) and the National Minorities Day (December 18), the Media Foyer of the "I.L. Caragiale" National Theatre (the wing facing Tudor Arghezi Street) is hosting the exhibition of portraits taken by the photographer Alex Galmeanu, photos taken as part of the Love that breaks down walls campaign, run under the auspices of the "Together" Community Development Agency.
The exhibition can be visited daily (from 11.00 to 6.00 pm) until December 20, 2023.
On display are 14 portraits of "invisible" Romani people who became "great" because they received love, trust and self-esteem. The campaign's protagonists include top athletes, actors, singers, activists, sociologists, students, teachers, online content creators, etc. alongside the people who have most influenced their lives.
The arguments of the campaign and the related exhibition are thus formulated by its initiators:
"The difference between failing and succeeding often lies in our strength to grit our teeth, combined with the confidence we receive from those around us. Is inner strength alone enough? Many young Romani people would say no, because being a Romani in Romania comes with the pressure to be twice as good as others in order to be treated the same. Because the stigma attached to ethnic identity is quite strong. This pressure makes many of us give in to the pressure of society. But those who succeed do so because they have people around them who see their potential and understand that the antidote to ignorance is love.
How often do we talk about the people who stand behind us and help us "grow up"? How much do we show gratitude to the people we look up to and become our role models? How much does meeting someone change our path and choices?
We will show them as they are, without trying to turn them into "models", because there are people like them all around us. And there are many of them. We'll show them together with their mothers, fathers, sisters, mentors, friends, the people they admire or who have most influenced their lives, telling stories of gratitude."
The following portraits are exhibited:
Valentin Tanase, performance athlete, with his mother Ionica;
Oana Rusu, actress at the National Operetta and Musical Theatre "Ion Dacian", Bucharest, with her husband Catalin Frasinescu;
Isabela Stanescu, student at the National University of Music, soprano in the Royal Choir, with her mother Violeta and her sisters Lorena and Irina;
Zita Moldovan, actress, with her mother Zita-Ema;
Alexandru Stan, activist, part of the Romanian Students' Union, together with his mother Simona;
Adrian-Nicolae Furtuna, sociologist, with his daughter Natasha;
Crina Muresanu, senior social worker at the General Directorate of Social Assistance of the Municipality of Bucharest, with her son Albert;
Corina G. Paun, Romani writer and Director of the "Pod peste suflete" publishing house, with her father Paun Gheorghe Ialomiteanu;
Petrica Badea, Head of Service - Romanian Government, Department for Romanians Abroad, with his daughter Indra;
Raisa Mihai, a classical guitar teacher at the "George Enescu" National College of Music, with her mother Daniela;
Alexandra Ciornea, student at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work in Bucharest, with her father Florin;
Catalin Raducanu, concert pianist, with his former piano teacher Alma Peter;
Emil Nepot, online content creator, alongside Micutzu (Cosmin Nedelcu);
Ana Duminica, associate director research department (dilligence), with her husband Yassine.
The Love that breaks down walls campaign is part of the project Knowing the (ro)man(i) next door, a project implemented by the Community Development Agency "Impreuna", through the Active Citizens Fund Romania program, funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through EEA Grants 2014-2021. The project "Knowing the (ro)man(i) next door" aims to raise awareness on human rights and equal treatment, with a focus on the Romani minority. The content of the campaign does not necessarily represent the official position of the EEA and Norway Grants 2014-2021; for more information please visit www.eeagrants.org.
Translated by Andreea Codrea-Boeriu
