Monica Voitovici, deputy director of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Warsaw: “ Working in culture is more than a job, it is a way of life”

For how long has been the ICR Warsaw functional and which is its main activity?

The Romanian Cultural Institute in Warsaw was official opened in November 2006, but work here started in May, when I and the director at the time, Dorian Branea (now director to RCI London) were assigned the positions. We prepared the opening of the Institute together with a team of volunteers, which included Maria Roşca, who is now our colleague. The official statement is: the Romanian Cultural Institute in Warsaw, set up at the beginning of 2006, acts to promote Romania and Romanian culture in Poland, facilitating cultural exchanges and partnerships between the two countries. RCI – Warsaw organises, independently or in partnership with public and private Polish institutions, film screenings, theatre and dance performances, concerts, exhibitions, translations, public lectures, conferences, round tables, programmes for learning Romanian. We're organising over seventy events every year, not only in Warsaw but also in major Polish cities: Krakow, Poznań, Wroclaw (elected as a European Capital of Culture in 2016), Gdańsk, ŁódŸ. We're collaborating with prestigious international festivals, such as “Warsaw Autumn”, “Music in old Krakow”, Shakespeare Festival in Gdańsk, the Film Festival “Nowe Horyzonty” in Wrocław, etc.

Mrs. Monica Voitovici, how does one of your regular work days look like?

One day in the office means correspondence, telephone calls, meetings, reunions, participation in different cultural events in Warsaw. It looks however a little different in the proximity of an event, when it may start a lot earlier, with the first flight from Bucharest landing at 6.45 a.m. and it may end long after the last place for the capital of our country takes off at 10.30 p.m. I'm often travelling, to attend the events we are organising or supporting or large Polish events (such as the recently ended European Culture Congress in Wrocław, the largest cultural event of the Polish presidency of the EU), or meeting Polish partners and discussing future projects.

 

I heard opinions that RCI – Warsaw is the most praiseworthy or among the most praiseworthy foreign departments of the RCI. How did the RCI – Warsaw gain this reputation?

I don't know if this is reputation. I believe that many of our guests are surprised after visiting Poland, because they don't expect much. Although the country is praised for its economy, it is not regarded as an appealing destination. If they were to choose between Warsaw and any other European capital where the RCI is active, I don't know how many would go for Warsaw. We are trying to stand out through interesting, original programmes, offer Polish audiences events of impact and get to be considered a serious partner. Furthermore, the RCI – Warsaw is located in an office building, so that we are obliged to work in partnership with Polish institutions, go to renowned location and multiply the promotion of an event through our partners' channels. We became an active member of the EUNIC (the network of European Union cultural relations institutes), a network within which we not only participated in projects, but also initiated and coordinated some.

Mrs. Monica Voitovici, which do you consider were the personal advantages supporting you in such major successes?

If I were to make the profile of the members in the RCI team that I am part of, I could speak of the ability to work as a team, endurance, both to long working hours and stress, the analytic capacity and take of taking quick decisions, as well as a thorough knowledge of the environment in which they carry out their activities. I think I could compare the team with long race runners, who don't see the finish line but have to keep a steady pace and keep up with the front line, even if the support from the sides isn't always addressed to them. Another prerequisite of our activity is creativity, a fashionable term now. And certainly we can't do without passion, love for one's work, which leads to a higher involvement. Working in culture is more than a job, it is a way of life – not always comfortable but, beyond any doubt, one that brings many satisfactions.

 

Which were the most significant projects and the accomplishments that made you feel proud the past years?

I can tell you that I am fond of every project that RCI – Warsaw made in Poland and that I have learnt something in each of them. But I cannot fail to mention Romania's Year in Poland, the series of four Romanian Culture Festivals organised in 2010 in Warsaw, Krakow, Poznań and Białystok, which included various events, from concerts and theatre performances to film screenings, literary meetings or events for children. Romanian Culture Festival became a kind of a brand to us. We're keen on organising it in Krakow, where the fifth edition will take place next year. Another brand of ours I believe is represented by the public diplomacy campaigns. The first was the “Forgotten Words of Admiration”, when buses in Warsaw and then Gdańsk hosted stickers with quotations favourable to Romania from various Polish personalities (Pope John Paul II, Marshal Józef Piłsudski, writer Julian Tuwim and poetess Maria Iłłakowiczówna). Then we continued with open space exhibitions: “Great Polish-Romanians”, presenting Polish personalities with major roles in the cultural, social and political life in Romania. Among the names of the twelve personalities presented in Warsaw, Krakow, Poznań, Sopot and Krynica are Ciprian Porumbescu, Oleg Danovski, Colea Răutu and others. Also in 2009, when 70 years since the Polish refuge in Romania were celebrated, we presented the exhibition “The Geography of Generosity”, illustrating this painful episode in Polish history. After Warsaw, the exhibition was organised during the following year in Krakow and Poznań. The most recent open space exhibition, which is on view in Warsaw at present, is called “Multiethnic Romania” and presents the ethnocultural diversity of our country, as it was grasped in photographs in the 20^th century, especially during its first half. I am personally very content that we managed to release a DVD to present Romanian theatre this year, an extremely useful tool not only for promotion, but also to call the interest for Romanian performances, as well as a double-CD dedicated to Romanian presences during the past years in the Contemporary Music International Festival “Warsaw Autumn”.

Which are the difficulties that you are facing?

I don't think we may speak of insuperable difficulties but rather of challenges that we are sometimes faced with every day. These are, in a way, the salt and pepper of our work. Obviously, there's always room for better. We could however do with a steady administrative budget, correlated with the programme budget.

What project do you have planned for the near future?

Saturday, the 10^th of September, were opened at the National Museum in Gdańsk the exhibitions “Da Messina, Titian, Veronese. Masterpieces of Italian Painting and Transylvanian Treasures. Silverware from the Collection of the Brukenthal National Museum in Sibiu”. It is the second year since the museum in Sibiu is present on the shores of the Baltic Sea, but the exchange of exhibitions will continue in the future years. Between the 16^th and the 24^th of September the Contemporary Music International Festival “Warsaw Autumn” will take place in Warsaw and its programme includes a first audition of the work PINASCENSIOCRISTICHO, signed by composer Octavian Nemescu, who will be attending in Warsaw with our support. The play Crises, by Mihai Ignat will be premiered in September, on the 24^th, at the  Korez Theatre in Katowice. At the same time will be opened the tenth edition of the “European Day of Languages”, and EUNIC event in which we are participating for the second time. For October and November we have planned several reunions within the programme “Plural Romania”, dedicated to minorities in Romania. October is the month of the theatre, and RCI – Warsaw supports the presence of Romanian theatres in two major Polish festivals dedicated to theatre; in Wrocław, within the “Dialog” Festival, the Yorick Studio from Târgu Mureş will present the performance 20/20 , directed by Gianina Cărbunariu, and in Olsztyn, the “Demoludy” Festival will host the Small Theatre from Bucharest with the performance Sado-Maso Blues Bar, directed by Gianina Cărbunariu, and the Youth Theatre in Piatra Neamţ with the performance Herr Paul, directed by Radu Afrim.

How is Romanian Culture regarded in Poland?

If until recently, to many Polish, Romanian culture was not among the cultures of interest, with little exceptions, the success of Romanian cinema in the past years opened their appetite for other cultural fields too. There are festivals, such as the International Theatre Festival “Close Strangers” organised in Poznań by the local Teatr Polski (Polish Theatre), as well as the Shakespeare Festival willing to present Romanian performances more often. Romanian literature in Poland also means now Mircea Cărtărescu, Dan Lungu, Filip Florian, Norman Manea. More and more Polish are travelling to Romania, and the interest for Romanian culture grows at this first contact with our country.