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Friday 20 March 2009
RATIU
FOUNDATION ANNUAL RECEPTION
BOW-TIE PARTY v
2.0
Manchester Square, 18 Fitzhardinge Street,
London W1H 6EQ |
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Dear Ratiu Scholars, Project Partners, and Friends,
As tradition dictates, this March we are organising a new edition of the Ratiu Foundation Annual Reception, and we would be delighted if you could attend this event. Confirmation is necessary. RSVP at mail@ratiufamilyfoundation.com by Tuesday 17 March 2009, mentioning a postal address where the hard copy of the invitation can be sent to you by regular mail. Please bring the invitation with you as access is made only on its basis.
This is going to be a really special celebration: not only the reception takes place in the new Ratiu Foundation Building, our place in Manchester Square, London W1, but this happens to be an anniversary year – as some of you might already know, the Foundation has just turned 30.
In 2008, in order to help us remember the great Ion Ratiu, and celebrate his life and achievements, we came up with the idea of all the participants wearing a bow-tie. The late Ion Ratiu (6 June 1917 – 17January 2000), the well known democracy campaigner, lawyer, journalist, writer, politician, businessman and philanthropist, was a devotee of this piece of apparel, so much so that he was affectionately known and recognised in Romania as ‘Mr Bow-Tie’. Wearing a bow-tie for this occasion would be a very appropriate way to help us remember and celebrate the life and deeds of this great man, whose generosity made your studies and projects and our activity and partnerships possible.
Those of you who attended last year’s party probably still remember the extraordinary atmosphere that permeated the day. This is why we decided to re-edit the event for 2009 as well. We are refreshing our traditional Annual Reception by giving it a theme and a surname, the Bow-Tie Party. Considering this would be the second edition with bow-ties on display, that we live in the computer age, and that we are going to have new and improved features, we thought we might as well call it Bow-Tie Party version 2.0.
Dress as informally as you like, casual yet smart, BUT it would be wonderful if you could wear a bow-tie (this is valid for girls and boys as well). Just to make sure there will be no misunderstandings, we will repeat last year’s advice:
THIS IS NOT A BLACK TIE EVENT! Although, if you have a full dinner suit, you are most welcome to wear it. The bow-tie could be a clip-on, a butterfly-broach, a toy one, drawn on paper, a hand-made one or even an imaginary one. It’s the state of mind that matters, not the dress. Dress casual and comfortable.
It will be a fine occasion for us all to meet in a relaxed and informal atmosphere in our own building. The attendance will be formed by scholars, students and researchers of all sorts, project managers, and cultural promoters. To show them our appreciation, our project partners are also invited to join in the fun. We promise to you all this will be an excellent occasion for us to meet and update each other on the progress of our work and to develop new ideas. We also guarantee a good party atmosphere.
Our Trustees will be present at the festivities and are looking forward to meeting you all and talking to you about your work and plans for the future.
Feel free to redirect this message to other Ratiu Scholars with whom you have kept in touch. We apologise in advance if we have omitted one or two contacts: Ratiu Scholars and Alumni are spread far and wide! Should you receive this invitation through a friend, please write to us and update your contact details.
This invitation extends to everybody we have ever supported and with whom we have ever worked together, from the United Kingdom and abroad. If you are not UK-based, but happen to be passing through London at the time, do get in touch with us.
When replying to this invitation, please include a short presentation / CV, of no more than 250 words. If you also happen to have photos and other documentary evidence of your projects supported by us, please send them to us as well.
We are looking forward to welcoming you on 20 March,
Nicolae Ratiu, Chairman
Ramona Mitrica, Director
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DIGGING
DEEPER
an exhibition by Daniel
Ratiu
Private View: Wednesday
25 February 2009
at the Ratiu Foundation
Building, Manchester Square, 18 Fitzhardinge Street, London
W1H 6EQ
Hosted by Anthony Green RA
and presented by the Alla Bulyanskaya Gallery.
Access by
invitation only . For details, please e-mail mail@ratiufamilyfoundation.com
Young artist Daniel
Ratiu’s second solo exhibition, ‘Digging Deeper’, will take
place at the Ratiu Foundation building in Manchester Square,
opening on the evening Wednesday 25 February 2009. In November
2007, Daniel opened his first show at Alla Bulyanskaya Gallery
in St James’s, where he exhibited over a hundred works. Since
then, Daniel has worked with even greater enthusiasm and
produced 60 new paintings, finding new means of expression as
an original artist. Over the past year, Daniel has certainly
matured, absorbing an artistic heritage, and furthering his
technique. Daniel’s style is influenced by his study of the
great masters – Turner, Klimt, Chagall, Klee, Kandinsky –
capturing some of the essence of their style in several of his
paintings.
 
My Violin
Exam; Memory of Turner
In his new paintings, Daniel
continues to explore his family roots, and derives great
inspiration from that source, such as the portrait of his
grandmother, Elisabeth Ratiu (nee Pilkington), as a debutante
or that of his late grandfather, Romanian politician and
philanthropist Ion Ratiu – “the best president that Romania
never had”.
 
Family Crest;
Grandmother Elisabeth Pilkington as a debutante
Other
works on show are further explorations in experimenting with
colour, either in abstract compositions or in
landscapes.
 
New Year in the City
(detail); Afternoon Walk
Daniel Ratiu was born in October
1996 in London. Besides painting, he enjoys music very much,
playing the piano, the violin and the saxophone - this love of
music can be seen in the subject matter of some paintings.
Daniel’s work can be found at the Alla Bulyanskaya
Gallery, in 31 Bury Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6AU, or at
the Ratiu Foundation Building of 18 Fitzhardinge Street,
Manchester Square, London W1H 6EQ, starting with 25 February
2009. A share of the exhibition’s proceeds from sales will go
to the “Danny Fund” to provide much needed materials and
education for talented young artists.
Supported by The Ratiu
Foundation / The Romanian Cultural Centre in London
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The Romanian fashion label Rozalb de Mura will present
their new ‘Powder Cadillac 1B-2140 & Desert Twilight
6A–3410’ collection, including womenswear and menswear,
between 22 – 24 February 2009, in London.
Rozalb de Mura was invited back to London for a special presentation during the 2009 edition of the within the On|Off Exhibition, following the great success of their appearance in September 2008. After fashion fairs in Berlin, Paris, Seoul or Stockholm, Rozalb de Mura participated last season in the prestigious OnIOff Exhibition presenting ‘The Drums of War Will Thunder Once Again’ collection.
Rozalb de Mura is not only one of the few names to be invited for a second presentation within On|Off, but the only Romanian designer to be present at this prestigious event of the London fashion calendar. Rozalb de Mura is promoted by add, a non-governmental organisation from Bucharest, working in the independent cultural sector in Romania.
Last year Rozalb de Mura were awarded a commission from the curators of the Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art ‘When things cast no shadow’ to do a special bag for the catalogues and the first museum exhibition ‘Anyone but me, anywhere but here’ - a joint project with visual artists Olivia Mihaltianu presented in the Contemporary Art Gallery of the Brukenthal Museum, Sibiu – this was followed by invitations from some major fashion and art projects.
Wrapped in mystery, Rozalb de Mura travels around the world and chooses interesting destinations and charismatic people to keep delightful company.
Starting with 2006, the Romanian avant-garde fashion label Rozalb de Mura, is rediscovering fresh moments from the past, which are set in utterly contemporary contexts, unflinchingly mixing real and imaginary characters, coolly playing with time and space.
The memorable encounter between the eccentric character and designer Olah Gyarfas happened in 2006. Ever since, the contemporary style of the Transylvanian designer, impervious to short-lived trends and marked by austere cuts and exuberant details, found an ideal platform in the nonconformist aura of the Rozalb de Mura label. The Rozalb de Mura label is developing as a multidisciplinary platform that commissions and supports unexpected and exciting collaborations between fashion designers, visual artists, musicians and writers.
Outstanding musicians and performers like Sabina Sciubba of Brazilian Girls, Patrick Wolf, Mikhail Karikis and Roisin Murphy - have already discovered Rozalb de Mura’s sophisticated mixture of masculine and feminine elements and sharp style, as has the press from Europe, the US, and Asia.
A long-term cooperation between The Ratiu Foundation and add was established some years ago, the Foundation helping to establish the add Knowledge Library, in Bucharest. “It is a pleasure to see that young people in Romania, such as Erika Olea and Dragos Olea, are working tirelessly for the promotion of the newest and most exciting trends in the country, and for the improvement of art management and marketing in general. I found in Erika and Dragos two consummate professionals, dedicated supporters of the most interesting Romanian cultural exports, such as Rozalb de Mura.
It is a pleasure to work with add and to lend a hand in helping Rozalb to be recognised in London”, said Ramona Mitrica, Director of the Ratiu Foundation.
More details on
www.rozalbdemura.ro
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The Ratiu Foundation / The Romanian Cultural
Centre in London presents the
Rozalb de Mura FW 09/10
(stylist Robbie
Spencer)
within On|Off
fashion showcase
20.30, on 23 February 2009, at the Science Museum
South Entrance,
Level 2, Exhibition Road, London, SW7 2DD
The schedule of the exhibition is as follows:
Sunday 22 February: 09.30 - 21.00
Monday 23 February: 10.00 - 19.00
Tuesday 24 February: 10.00 - 18.30
Please note that this
event is for industry professionals only. See details
of application for press and buyers on www.thedoll.org/onoff/applications.html
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Rozalb de Mura’s presence at On|Off is supported by
Supported by The Ratiu
Foundation / The Romanian Cultural Centre in London
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