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Minister of Culture Lucian Romascanu voiced hope that March will bring a relaxation of the measures imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which will be important for both the public and the cultural operators, so that "return to normalcy" should be much faster and lead to the reopening of all cultural institutions.
"I think that, as Minister Rafila announced, March will bring us a relaxation that will matter to both the public and the cultural operators. It's what I wished for too. And I really hope it will happen, because we see that the ICUs are less and less crowded, the number of deaths is on a downward slope, new infections as well, and we can see also that Omicron infections are not as severe as Delta and previous variants, so normally we should have no reason to hold everything closed," Romascanu said in an interview.
"I want to see people without a mask again, to see the joy of people in the performance halls and to see - people don't win huge anyway, only a select few in the cultural area - to see their joy when they see how the public enjoys their shows and also to see their joy when they start making a living out of their work again," he said.
Romascanu also spoke about Romania's proposal that 2023 be designated the European Year of Resilience through Culture, in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on the cultural and creative sectors. "This is also a matter of how Europe, the European Commission, is organized. We went to the Council of Ministers as early as December, or the end of November, and proposed, at Romania's initiative, for the culture ministers in the EU to vote for this Year of Resilience Through Culture. This would be a very important signal for the world of culture and could generate projects to revitalize the sector."
The Minister also spoke about the preparation of the Timisoara European Capital of Culture project - 2023, the "George Enescu" International Festival, but also about his desire to bring back to the public the work of Constantin Brancusi called "The Wisdom of the Earth."
"If I could resume this discussion, and I would try to have a new discussion with the owners; first of all - let's try to re-exhibit it at the Brancusi Hall of the National Museum of Art, second of all - let's try to reopen this discussion related to the acquisition of the work by the state, because, in the end, it would be a great gain for the country to have in our patrimony one of the most famous works of Brancusi," Romascanu pointed out regarding the plans concerning "The Wisdom of the Earth," while also adding that "I would like to see it in our heritage, but until then, maybe I will find a solution, together with the National Museum of Art and the owner's family, to exhibit it."
Regarding the priorities of his mandate, he mentioned the ongoing projects, "work in progress" as he put it, including the Heritage Code, the modification of the copyright law, the modifications brought to the law on financing in the cultural field, Agerpres informs.
