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The exhibitions called "Marie de Roumanie, reine et artiste" and "Broderies de tradition byzantine en Roumanie. Autour de l'etendard d'Etienne le Grand," organised as part of the Romania-France Season, at the Palais du Tau in Reims and the Louvre Museum in Paris were organised under crisis conditions, Director of the National History Museum of Romania (MNIR) Ernest Oberlander - Tarnoveanu stated on Wednesday.
"The two exhibitions were organised under crisis conditions. This year we didn't have an operating budget, in fact, even now, we don't have an operating budget, which means that we have been functioning based on the very fair and stable principle saying that each institution has the right to use 1/12 per cent of its resources from the previous year for this type of activities. And since an exhibition means public procurements, transportation, ensuring the wrapping of the works, internal transportation and so on, you can realize how huge the constraints our institutions has been subjected to. (...) We needed to make a really big effort in terms of internal diplomacy to convince the ecclesiastical institutions to maintain their commitments they made a year and a half ago to borrow us some of their pieces of art, and also to convince the Ministry of National Defence to maintain its commitment. These essential elements for the success of the exhibition at the Louvre and the one at Reims wouldn't have been possible without the direct contribution of the Ministry of Culture and National Identity," stated Ernest Oberlander-Tarnoveanu, at the press conference entitled "Exhibitions organised by the national museums and diplomatic archives under the aegis of the Ministry of National Culture and Identity, with the support of the Ministry of National Defence," organised at the MNIR headquarters.
He mentioned that among the problems encountered in the organisation of the exhibitions were also some of a financial nature.
The official explained that the organisation of the two events proves the maturity and professionalism of those who put them together.
Liviu Constantinescu, the Director General of Romania's National Museum of Art (MNIR), said that the two exhibitions were basically inserted between the permanent exhibition spaces of the French museums, "without disturbing anything."
Secretary of State with the Ministry of Culture and National Identity Alexandru Pugna said the two events held in France "have brought the real image of our country to light, in the sense that these were two unique exhibitions, which enjoyed a special appreciation from the representatives of the French administration and the cultural personalities who attended the two varnishes, and also the appreciation of the French media."
The exhibitions were organised by the National Museum of History of Romania, in partnership with the National Monuments Centre in France, the National Museum of Art of Romania (MNAR), the Peles National Museum, the Diplomatic Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Putna, Sucevita and Sfintii Trei Ierarhi monasteries in Iasi. Besides the major contribution of each of the Romanian institutions owning the exhibits, an essential role in organising the exhibition also had the Romanian Patriarchy, the Metropolis of Moldova and Bucovina, the Archdiocese of Suceava and Radauti and the Ministry of Culture and National Identity, the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
