Queen Marie was not just ours, she was, in a deep sense, "a European by heart and will", is the idea conveyed on Tuesday by head of the European Commission's Representation to Romania, Ramona Chiriac, to the participants in the National Conference "Romania's Cultural Heritage", held at the National Museum of Romanian Literature.
"In a patriarchal and conservative Europe, Queen Marie was among the first women in a position of power, who knew how to negotiate directly with world leaders, to use her political image as a diplomatic instrument, to redefine the royal role through concrete action and not just through symbolic representation. Today, when we talk in the European Union about female leadership, equality and women's voice in the public space, Queen Marie remains an archetype of courage, clarity and emotional intelligence. In an era when diplomacy was considered exclusively the attribute of statesmen, Queen Marie intuited the strength of another type of influence, cultural diplomacy," Chiriac emphasized in the message delivered by a representative of the EC mission to Bucharest.
Further on, she remarks that "through her demeanor, artistic taste, personal style, her choice and orchestration of architecture, clothing and royal symbols, Marie built a cultural language that unites, elicits emotion and convinces."
"She understood that a country does not assert itself through borders and armies alone, but also through the story it tells about itself, and this story is told through art, through words, through sacred spaces and through everyday gestures loaded with meaning. (...) Queen Marie was a pioneer of cultural democracy, she showed that national identity doesn't need to be strident, but coherent and alive, and that culture is not a simple decoration, but is the invisible fiber that connects people to each other and to their history. (...) Queen Marie was not only ours, she was, in a deep sense, a European by heart and will. Let us celebrate her not just for the past, but also as a model for the future," said the head of the EC Representation to Romania.
Historian Georgeta Filitti, honorary member of the Romanian Academy, delivered an exhaustive biography of the Sovereign of Greater Romania as a statesperson, artist and mother, pointing also out that Queen Marie does not yet have a place in the Dictionary of Romanian Writers.
"At least for her children's literature and for her memoir writings, she deserves it, for her understanding of our society of the first half of the 20th century," Filitti argued.
According to the director of the National Museum of Romanian Literature, Queen Marie remains "a historical human model".
"She left behind some formidable things, namely the way she contributed together with her husband, King Ferdinand, to shaping this Romania, and that is fundamental and for this we must be grateful to her, because together with King Ferdinand she took some major decisions," the director pointed out.
Also speaking about Queen Maria were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mireille Radoi, director of the "Carol I" Central University Library, and the director of the Peles National Museum, Narcis Dorin Ion, who presented the queen's passion for fine arts, architecture and environmental design.
Until July 12, the National Museum of Romanian Literature is hosting at its headquarters at No. 64 - 66 Calea Grivitei the art exhibition suggestively titled ROYAL, which includes works inspired by the life and work of Queen Marie, created by designer Mioara Iofciulescu and other Romanian artists.
The conference "Romania's Cultural Heritage" is organized by the Bucharest Academy of Handmade Art, a non-profit organization founded in 2021 and dedicated to promoting Romanian artists, handmade art and Romanian traditions.
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