Post-event: The Romanian Academy and UBB, in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, for Romania. A brief summary of the event!

July 12, 2024

Authors:

  • psych. Daniel David, PhD, UBB rector and corresponding member of the Romanian Academy
  • Professor Eliot Sorel, PhD, George Washington University, SUA

The Romanian Academy and Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB), in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution, hosted the event “Romania at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival 25th Anniversary Celebration – 1999-2024” (https://news.ubbcluj.ro/event/academia-romana-si-ubb-in-parteneriat-cu-smithsonian-institution-si-cu-implicarea-autoritatilor-nationale-si-a-altor-parteneri-internationali-inclusiv-ambasada-s-u-a-in-romania-onoreaza-si-proiect/). UBB’s involvement, in partnership with the Romanian Academy, highlights the Romanian university with the largest number of alumni in the US and the Romanian university with the strongest American ties in terms of partnerships, programmes and academic projects.

In 1999, Romania was set on the path towards NATO. American support was essential and needed. But at that time Romania was not a country known well in the US. As we recall from that period (DD and ES), Romania was perceived in the US as a former communist country (“Ceaușescu’s”), with poverty, AIDS problems and institutionalized children. The more positive points were the association with Nadia (Comăneci) and perhaps, tourist-wise, the Dracula association.

The Smithsonian Institution is a flagship cultural institution in the US “…the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex” (https://www.si.edu/). It holds the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival (https://festival.si.edu/), which celebrates the cultural traditions of countries around the world. The festival thus provided a very good opportunity for Romania to share its cultural richness with the Americans (https://festival.si.edu/past-program/1999/gateways-to-romania).

Romanian state authorities – including the then President Emil Constantinescu – and the Romanian Cultural Foundation, through academician Augustin Buzura, worked very hard to promote Romania on the National Mall in Washington DC, USA. The US ambassadors to Romania and the Smithsonian Institution (i.e. Richard Kurin) also contributed to this effort. Professor Eliot Sorel of George Washington University was the one who initiated this historic and unprecedented project. In the early 1990s, the Romanian Ambassador to Washington, Mihai Botez, was instrumental in establishing a bond of friendship between the then academician Augustin Buzura and professor Eliot Sorel, which served as a catalyst for their close collaboration towards the making of this event.

It was a major event, attracting over 1,000,000 visitors and bringing Romania to the attention of over 40,000,000 Americans via American media channels. Last but not least, we felt that the traditional aspect reactivated and/or stimulated the Romanian diaspora and their interest in Romania, with many rediscovering contexts from their childhood/youth or that of their parents/grandparents.

After 25 years, we believe Romania finds itself in a comparable moment. We are entering the final phase of lifting visas for the US and Romania must be fully prepared for this, as the US also has a clear understanding of our domestic plans. From our point of view – ES: a Romanian and American citizen and DD: a Romanian who spent more time in the US than in Romania between 1998-2004 and then travelled back to this country almost every year – after joining NATO, Romania’s image has significantly changed and the country has increasingly gained a cultural and educational visibility in the US. The visa waiver will inevitably lead to the introduction of another key factor, the social-economic one.

The event organised in the Romanian Academy Hall by the Romanian Academy and UBB, together with the Smithsonian Institution, with the involvement of other relevant actors (i.e. the Romanian presidency, the government, through the participation of three relevant ministries, the Romanian Cultural Institute, the US Embassy in Romania, the Romanian Ambassador to UNESCO), including educational actors (i.e. The University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest), played a role in:

  • Honoring and gaining a better understanding of the event organised at the Smithsonian Institution 25 years ago, including its legacy. Following the opening remarks by academicians Ioan-Aurel Pop (who underlined the contribution of academician Augustin Buzura) and Mircea Dumitru (who underlined the contribution of professor Eliot Sorel), professors Eliot Sorel (who emphasized the historical importance of valuing and learning from the event organised 25 years ago and the story of the Maramureș church transported to the USA from Maramureș) and Daniel David (who emphasized the importance of planning for the future while building on the event organised 25 years ago), we had the “What it was like” panel discussion. This section featured those involved at the time: Emil Constantinescu (President of Romania between 1996-2000), Alfred Moses (US Ambassador to Romania), Richard Kurin (Smithsonian Institution) and Mircea Geoană (Romania’s Ambassador to the US at the time). Kathleen Kavalec (US Ambassador to Romania), Simona Miculescu (Romania’s Ambassador to UNESCO) and Liviu Jicman (President of the Romanian Cultural Institute) also spoke prior to the session. All of them concluded that the event organised 25 years ago brought Romania closer to the US on a cultural level, leaving behind the post-communist image, which was also instrumental in Romania’s acceptance into NATO.
  • Planning to further boost the cultural-educational profile and stimulate a renewed and positive socio-economic profile. In this session, the Minister of Education, Ligia Deca, outlined the planned educational cooperation between Romania and the USA and, more specifically, with the Smithsonian Institution. The Minister of Research, Bogdan Ivan, outlined the cooperation schemes in the field of research-development-innovation, including strategic cooperation with the National Science Foundation. The Energy Minister, Sebastian Burduja, outlined the plans for a strategic partnership with the US in the energy area, both traditional and nuclear energy, and explained how this economic partnership also has social and defence implications for the country.
  • Lastly, joining academicians Mircea Dumitru and Daniel Dăianu, we reviewed the presentations and formulated a few tentative conclusions and possible future implications. Professor Sorel asserted that this event should set the stage for new projects in the future, which will further strengthen the US-Romania partnership, with the participation of the diaspora. Mircea Dumitru pointed out that the ‘Fulbright program’ (https://fulbright.ro/) is a successful instrument of the US-Romania partnership, which should be preserved and developed. Daniel Dăianu gave a contextualization of the US-Romania partnership in the framework of the risks-opportunities facing capitalism and democracy. Daniel David revisited the history of Romania’s presence in the American collective consciousness after the 1989 Revolution and argued that we need to adequately develop a new socio-economic dimension in the new American and international democratic context, which will reinforce the existing cultural-educational profile (which we need to develop in turn), in order to positively highlight the profile of Romanians in the American space and to prevent past mistakes made during EU accession (e.g. by failing to address certain negative aspects we often prejudiced the image of Romanians in the EU space). In this setting, students, media representatives and representatives of the socio-economic environment were able to submit questions. The conclusions are likely to be further elaborated by each participant and a summary report will be disseminated to all involved.

In our opinion the event was a success! Not only did we honour an event that played its role in Romania’s course towards NATO, but we also grasped its importance and learned something from it to serve us for the present and for the future. We must ensure that, when lifting visas for the USA, Romania avoids making some of the mistakes it made in the EU, and instead builds on and develops the positive image and cultural-educational profile it already has in the USA and fosters an effective and dignified social and economic profile for all the people who will be able to benefit from this opportunity (avoiding the factors that initially gave us a negative image in the EU). Based on the ministers’ presentations, there are grounds for optimism, but things will have to be implemented operationally very soon following the elections and the appointment of the new officials.

The program in the Romanian Academy Hall was preceded by a concert at the Romanian Athenaeum, where the “Dr. Ermil Nichifor” Doctors’ Orchestra (OMEN) performed compositions by George Enescu (Romanian Rhapsody) and George Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue), both composers emblematic of their countries.