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On Thursday, President Klaus Iohannis decorated cultural luminaries, including pan flute player Gheorghe Zamfir and the Constanta State Theatre to mark January 15, the Romanian National Culture Day, at a ceremony that took place at Cotroceni Palace.
"For the National Culture Day, we acknowledge the role of Romanian cultural icons in the modernisation and democratisation of Romania, in adhering to European values. The exemplary involvement of thinkers, artists, promoters and founders of cultural institutions in asserting the identity, statehood and national unity of Romania goes down in history. This holiday is also an opportunity to express the gratitude of our society to the contribution of contemporary artists to increasing the thesaurus of Romanian culture. Part of a worldwide dialogue and exchange of values, through prestigious participations in international festivals and competitions, contemporary creation constantly boosts the prestige of our country," Iohannis told the ceremony at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.
The chief of state bestowed a Romania's Star medal in the rank of Knight on Mircia Dumitrescu, a corresponding member of the Romanian Academy; a Romania's Star medal in the rank of Knight on Gheorghe Zamfir, performer, composer and conductor; a For Merit medal in the rank of Knight on Vasile Gheorghe, writer and translator; a Cultural Merit medal in the rank of Commander on the Constanta State Theatre; a Cultural Merit medal in the rank of Knight on writer Ioan Hadaring as well as on writer and translator Luan Topciu; and a Cultural Merit medal in the rank of Knight on visual artist Stefan Baloc.
"Mr Gheorghe Zamfir, you have carried to the four corners of the world the vibration and the chords of the Romanian Mioritic space. For many, the depth of the Romanian folklore is identified with the ancestral sound of the panpipe and with the virtuosity of Gheorghe Zamfir! Mr Mircia Dumitrescu, your activity impresses with the overflowing energy that you display in the academic quarters and in the workshop. Through a wide range of inspired and successful artistic expressions your work and activity are an example worth following to the generations that had the chance of having you as their mentor! (. ..) Mr Luan Topciu, Mr Stefan Balog, Mr Ioan Hadarig, you have distinguished yourselves by capitalising on the cultural heritage of national minorities, by the energy with which you have enhanced the interethnic cultural dialogue and presented it to the Romanian and foreign public as one of the values and characteristics of our culture! Over the last two centuries, Romania's modernity has been configured by assuming humanistic values, by integrating our country with the Western political, economic and social processes. This historical process was based on knowledge, dialogue and interference between the culture of the Romanian area and the European space. You, Mr Geo Vasile, through your decades-long activity in the service of cultural dialogue, prove the importance, topicality and vitality of such relationship. I am also glad to congratulate those who have taken to the stages of the state theatre in Constanta, in the 70 years since its establishment, serving Ovid's muse for millennia!," President Iohannis said.
Iohannis underscored the need to support culture.
"We have recently celebrated 15 years since Romania's accession to the European Union: a political option and the expression of the nation's will, but also the completion of a process that defined the Romanian society and culture in the last century and a half. Not coincidentally, one of the strongest ties to the values of the European Union are achieved by the Romanian culture. Therefore, we need not only to appreciate, but also to support its action in promoting social cohesion, understanding, mutual respect and tolerance," added Iohannis.
Dumitrescu thanked the chief of state for the awards.
"We need a national culture, not a nationalist one, which landmarks are of a universal culture in the construction of which we have to participate actively while preserving our identity and getting integrated with the great culture of the world," he said.
Dumitrescu invited Iohannis to visit his "Perspectives" exhibition at Romania's National Museum of Arts, Agerpres informs.
