Culture Minister András István Demeter sent a message for the opening, on Wednesday, of the ProEtnica 2025 Intercultural Festival in Sighisoara, encouraging ethnic communities to preserve their specificities, but also to realize that each of them is part of a greater whole and has its own contribution to the great cultural mosaic of Romania.
"Although I am not with you today on the opening day of the 21st edition of the Sighisoara Intercultural Festival - ProEtnica, I assure you of my utmost appreciation for the effort put into the construction of this cultural edifice. (...) Through this event we get to know each other better, to identify with the group we belong to, but also realize that we are part of an encompassing whole, and that we make our own contribution to the great cultural mosaic of Romania. Just as Bela Bartok was inspired by the Romanian Transylvanian folk dance, you too should take everything that is most beautiful from others and carry it forward. Let us learn to preserve our specificity, but without isolating ourselves in an ivory tower that will condemn us to oblivion. Let us step confidently into the world, affirming who we are, with the joy sparked by the curiosity to discover the uniqueness in those around us," the Culture minister said in the message delivered by Undersecretary of State Irina Sanda Marin Cajal, told Agerpres.
The minister pointed out that the location chosen for the festival is the most inspired to emphasize the spirit of this event, its multiethnic richness and its contribution to the development of a nation.
"Sighisoara is a melting pot of languages, cultures, peoples, religions that knew how to harmonize in order to move forward in peace and prosperity. Located at the intersection of trade routes, it brought together diverse worlds which had no other way but live in understanding with each other for the good of everyone. The vector that set everything in motion was communication. Times have passed, but the challenges have remained: a struggle is taking place in modern man between the tendency to preserve national identity, in your case the culture of the ethnic group you are part of, and that of belonging to the great European family," András István Demeter noted.
The Undersecretary of State in charge of the Culture Ministry's National Minorities Office, Irina Sanda Marin Cajal, said that she participated in all editions of the ProEtnica Intercultural Festival because the Ministry has supported this project from the very beginning and believed in the importance and necessity of this space for dialogue.
"Just as the EU has European cultural capitals, Sighisoara - a city where various ethnic groups have been living together for centuries, has become Romania's intercultural capital through the ProEtnica Intercultural Festival. The festival has gained its reputation not only due to the multitude and diversity of the programs featured, but also due to the numerous personal experiences and emotions with which you, the participants, contribute to the richness and importance of this event. Here we always have reasons to celebrate, if last year saw the anniversary edition of the festival, this year we are celebrating 145 years of Romanian-German diplomatic relations. The centuries-old presence of the German minority in Romania has contributed to the close ties between the two countries," said Marin Cajal.
The representative of the Ministry of Culture thanked the festival's organizer Volker Reiter for creating and developing this unique forum for intercultural dialogue which aims to preserve and promote the culture, language, traditions and cultural heritage of national minorities in Romania, together with a series of institutional partners.
The 21st edition of the ProEtnica Intercultural Festival taking place Between August 27 - 31 is organised by the Interethnic Educational Cultural Center for Youth, proetnica.ro reports.
The four venues of the festival events - all located in the Medieval Citadel of Sighisoara - are the Main Square, where performances by national minority ensembles are scheduled, the City Hall's Baroque Hall, the Sander Hall, and the Museum Square.
The 21st edition of ProEtnica takes place under the High Patronage of the President of Romania and within the celebration of 145 years of Romanian-German diplomatic relations.
The ProEtnica 2025 Intercultural Festival is funded by the Department for Interethnic Relations and the Ministry of Culture; the Mures County Council supports it as a project partner.
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