ForMin Melescanu on France-Romania Season: 'Trust is the core message'

On Thursday, he and Chairman of the French Institute in Bucharest Pierre Buhler signed the minutes of the 5th meeting of the 2018 - 2019 Romania - France Season Joint Committee. 

The working meetings held this week in Bucharest resulted in the establishment of a significant number of events for the season, capitalising on the shared interests of the two countries and in complementarity with the strategic partnership roadmap. 

Melescanu said in a press statement that "over 80 cities in France and more than 30 in Romania may submit projects registered for this season." According to the minister, they want the season to be "a genuine dialogue of communities and creators." 

"We have made this joint season into a festival of shared values and memory in a genuine contemporary European dialogue," Melescanu explained. 

Moreover, he emphasised that "the significance of the season is given by a partnership of ideas and values and mutual knowledge" and said that the core message of the series of events is "trust." 

"The formal objectives of the season are to change the ossified image that we have many times of each other and to modernise it, to initiate a new Franco-Romanian intimacy buttressed by curiosity that avoids clichés," added Melescanu. 

As a matter of fact, the season's poster underlines the intention to get rid of clichés: a picture of Edith Piaf embraced by Count Dracula and another one of late Romanian singer Maria Tanase in Napoleon's arms, accompanied by the text, in French and in Romanian, "Forget about clichés." 

French Institute Chairman Buhler spoke about overcoming the clichés in the relationship between the two countries. 

"Romania does not mean Dracula only (...) as much as France has changed after Napoleon," he said, adding that the season "will help strengthen the relationship between civil society members in each country and will invite the new generations to forget about clichés." 

At the press conference on Thursday, the French and Romanian Commissioners of the French-Romanian Season - Jean-Jacques Garnier and Andrei Tarnea - mentioned the season's events that will take place in France and Romania. 

November 27, 2018 - July 14, 2019, Romania and France will unveil to the public in both countries a cross-programming of more than 300 projects in a unique approach to public, economic, and cultural diplomacy. 

The season will begin in France at a time of great importance to Romania country, the Centennial of its Greater Union, and will continue in 2019 in both countries, including during Romania's term in office as holder of the presidency of the Council of the European Union. 

The season opens in Paris in the presence of the two countries' presidents and it will be followed by the visit of the Romanian prime minister, an economic forum in the presence of the relevant ministers and events to be attended by the foreign minister and the culture minister. The key moments of the season include the opening of four exhibitions and a contemporary installation of Romanian artists at the Georges Pompidou Center in Paris, a concert of the Romanian Youth Orchestra, with the exceptional participation of pianist Radu Lupu as a soloist at the Philharmonic in Paris, and a concert of the Paris Instrumental Ensemble and the Madrigal Choir at the Cathedral of Saint-Louis des Invalides. 

Drama, dance, music, cinema, literature, visual arts, exhibitions, debates, gastronomy are the areas where the season aims to create a genuine dialogue between communities and creators.