Ratiu Democracy Lecture in Washington DC

Award Ceremony: The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation 2005

Lectures on ‘Contemporary Visual Arts in Romania’

Play by Matei Visniec performed at Edinburgh Festival

Turda Cultural Weekend

Turda Fest 2005

Mexican democracy campaigner Sergio Aguayo gives first Ratiu Democracy Lecture in DC

“ mentoring and exchange critical to the future of democracy in our world”.

On November 8^th 2005 at 4pm, at Georgetown University, seasoned Mexican democracy campaigner Sergio Aguayo will give the first Ratiu Democracy Lecture. In an impressive double bill, Professor Aguayo will be introduced by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza.

The new annual Lecture is the result of over a year’s preparation by the Ratiu Family Foundation of the United Kingdom and the Center for Democracy and the Third Sector of Georgetown University, following their March 2004 agreement to establish an International Democracy Lecture which will give wide recognition to "men and women of principle" in their struggle for democracy.

The Lecture is part of an emerging configuration of imaginative efforts by the Ratiu Family Foundation to promote democracy and further the legacy of the late Ion Ratiu, Romanian politician and life-long campaigner against tyranny and dictatorship, who died in London, January 17^th 2000.

The Ratiu Lecture is jointly administered by Professor Steven Heydemann and Professor Marc Morjé Howard of Georgetown University's Center for Democracy and the Third Sector, together with the Trustees of the Ratiu Family Foundation of the UK. The Ratiu Family Foundation’s and Georgetown’s Democracy Lecture agreement is for an initial period of five years, and complements the Ratiu Family Foundation’s 1989 endowment of the Georgetown’s Ion Ratiu Chair and Library of Romanian Studies, currently held by Professor Charles King, who is himself an advisor to Georgetown University’s Center for Democracy and the Third Sector.

Under the terms of the Ratiu-Georgetown agreement, starting in 2005, a "man or woman of principle" will be nominated each year to the prestigious new Ratiu Democracy Lectureship by members of a world-wide nominating committee of acknowledged international champions of democracy at least one of whom will serve as mentors to each year’s chosen Lecturer. The 2005 nominating committee is composed of: James Fallows, Atlantic Monthly Magazine; Dame Shirley Williams, member of the House of Lords; Jonathan Fanton, President of the McArthur Foundation; Jean Bethke Elshtain, Levy Professor of Ethics & Government, Georgetown University; Henry Lewis Gates, Director of African-American Programs, Harvard University; the Trustees of the Ratiu Family Foundation, members of the governing board of Georgetown University’s Center for Democracy and the Third Sector and of course, José Miguel Insulza Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) who, as Professor Aguayo’s selected mentor, will introduce him to the Georgetown audience on Tuesday, November 8th.

The Ratiu Democracy Lecture aims to replicate for campaigning democrats today, whether in exile from repressive regimes or representative of today’s emerging democracies, the life-changing experience in Washington DC of the then young Romanian democrat, Ion Ratiu, during the 1970s and 80s. Although marginalized in the UK, his country of adoption, and under threat of death in Romania his country of origin, it was in Washington, DC that Ion Ratiu was to find essential encouragement and support for his work and beliefs. His Washington experience inspired him to launch the World Union of Free Romanians in 1984 and eventually led him back to post-1989 Romania to found the leading daily newspaper Cotidianul, to lobby successfully for Romania’s entry into NATO, and to stand as the democratic opposition’s candidate for the Romanian Presidency. In present-day Romania he is widely recognised as “the best president we never had”.

To provide further support for those "people of principle" who will visit Washington DC as annual Ratiu Democracy lecturers, the Ratiu Family Foundation also rely on the resourcefulness of its Washington-based US Director Ms Gillian Quinby and a prestigious circle of Washington-based “Friends of the Ratiu Democracy Lecture”, who each year organize up to ten days of informal receptions and events for each visiting lecturer with members of the capital’s various communities.

This year’s Ratiu Lecturer Prof Sergio Aguayo will be honored with a dinner at Washington’s exclusive Cosmos Club, hosted by the Trustees of the Ratiu Family Foundation and Prof Eliot Sorel, as well as a reception given in Prof Aguayo’s honor by National Geographic explorers Gail and Wade Davis whose practical mentoring of Ion and Elisabeth Ratiu in Washington in the 1980s inspired the creation of the Ratiu Democracy Lecture with its distinctive “Friends” and mentor features.

It is the organizers’ hope that the Ratiu Lecturer’s presence in Washington DC, enhanced by the variety of events organized by the “Friends of the Ratiu Democracy Lecture”, will enrich the intellectual environment in which ideas about democracy and democratic change circulate, with practical experience from around the world.

In addition to the Georgetown Democracy Lecture, the Ratiu Family Foundation's expanding Democracy Program in the USA and Europe includes:
- measures to ensure the security and accessibility of the historic Ratiu-Tilea archive (which includes such Romanian national treasures as the last will and testament of the Transilvanian popular hero Avram Iancu), in cooperation with the Hoover Institute of Stanford University.
- an agreement signed in November 2003 with Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj, to establish the Ratiu Democracy Center, incorporating research, education, social outreach and museum activities in both Cluj and neighboring Turda, European home of the Ratiu family.
- “Turda Democracy Gatherings” – week-long summer camps where teenagers learn the values and behaviors of democracy through practical work experience linked to insights shared around the campfire with seasoned democrats from all walks of life.

For further information, please contact:
Ms Gillian Quinby – “Friends” Coordinator; GBQuinby@HHLAW.com ; +1202 637 7212
Indrei Ratiu - Trustee, Ratiu Family Foundation London, UK, and Turda, Romania; +40 740 573 385
Prof Steven Heydemann - Center for Democracy and the Third Sector, Georgetown University, Washington, DC; +1202 687 0592

ROMANIA wins EUROPEAN POETRY TRANSLATION PRIZE MARIN SORESCU’s volume THE BRIDGE (‘Puntea’), translated from Romanian by Adam J Sorkin & Lidia Vianu, is awarded the ‘Corneliu M Popescu’ Prize for European Poetry Translation 2005

The Poetry Society London and The Ratiu Foundation UK announced the winner of the ‘Corneliu M Popescu’ Prize for European Poetry Translation 2005 on Thursday 8 September 2005, in a ceremony held at Goodenough College, London. The judges of the 2005 competition, British writers Alan Brownjohn and Mike Phillips chose ‘The Bridge’ by Marin Sorescu after a hard deliberation process, according it one of the highest distinctions for translation. It is the first time in the 22 years history of the ‘Corneliu M Popescu’ Prize that the award has gone to a translation from Romania. Congratulations to the team of translators, Adam J Sorkin & Lidia Vianu.


Mike Phillips, Adam J Sorkin, Alan Brownjohn		Ramona Mitrica, Adam J Sorkin

After the welcome address of the Director of the Poetry Society, Ms Jules Mann, and of the Director of the Goodenough College, Mr Tim Toyne Sewell, the Award Ceremony continued with a speech by Ms Ramona Mitrica, the representative of the Ratiu Foundation UK, sponsor of the Award. The prize is of Ł1,500 and is awarded every two years. Ms Mitrica reminded the audience of the first Awards Ceremony that took place on 16 May 1983, and of the love of culture of Ion Ratiu, the initiator of this project. Ion Ratiu (1917-2000), well known as a Romanian politician and successful businessman, was also a dedicated promoter of the study of Romanian language, culture and civilisation around the world.

Mike Phillips took the floor and praised all the 72 books submitted in the competition for the excellent quality of the translations, especially the six volumes shortlisted: ‘Love at the Full’ (Lucien Becker, tr. Christopher Pilling - Flambard) France; ‘Cuceriri Disperate / Desperate Conquests’ (Carmen Firan, tr. Julian Semilian - Editura ICR), Romania; ‘Absurd Athlete’ (Yannis Kondos, tr. David Connolly - Arc Publications) Greece; ‘The Night of Akhenaton – Selected Poems’ (Ágnes Nemes Nagy, tr. George Szirtes - Bloodaxe Books), Hungary; ‘A Voice – Selected Poems’ (Anzhelina Polonskaya, tr. Andrew Wachtel - Northwestern University Press), Russia; and ‘The Bridge’ (Marin Sorescu, tr. Adam J Sorkin and Lidia Vianu - Bloodaxe Books) Romania. A special commendation was awarded to the translation by Jill Higgs for ‘Vasily Tyorkin, a Book About a Soldier’ by Alexander Tvardovsky (Hub Editions; Russia).

Christopher Pilling, David Connolly, George Szirtes and the poet Anzhelina Polonskaya gave short readings from their books, and in the climax of the event Alan Brownjohn presented the last book in the shortlist, Marin Sorescu’s ‘The Bridge’, announcing the Judges’ decision, and calling on the translator Adam J Sorkin to present the book and to read some of Sorescu’s poems. Mr Sorkin evoked the great Romanian writer, Marin Sorescu, by a personal recollection from the times before the death of the author, while he worked on what he knew was to be his last volume.

Marin Sorescu (1936-96) was a cheerfully melancholic comic genius and one of the most original voices in Romanian literature. ‘The Bridge’ is his farewell to life – a book of wryly quizzical poems composed from his sickbed over five weeks as he waited for death to take him, his testament not just to human mortality and pain but to resistance and creative transformation.

The translators Adam J Sorkin & Lidia Vianu join a list of previous winners of the ‘Corneliu M Popescu’ Prize which includes Tony Harrison, Ewald Osers, Francis Jones and David Constantine, 2003’s winner.

Adam J Sorkin is a distinguished Professor of English at Penn State University, USA. His previous translations from Romanian include poetry by Ioana Ieronim, Liliana Ursu, Daniela Crasnaru and Mircea Cartarescu.

Lidia Vianu is a Romanian poet, novelist, critic, and translator. Former Fulbright lecturer at State University New York and the University of California, Berkeley, Lidia Vianu is a Professor of English at University of Bucharest.

‘The Bridge’ (Bloodaxe Books, January 2004, Paperback, 96 pages, ISBN: 1852245778)

For more information:
Bloodaxe Books (www.bloodaxebooks.com)
Poetry Society (www.poetrysociety.org.uk)
Ratiu Foundation UK (www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com)

Thursday 8 September 2005
AWARD CEREMONY:
THE CORNELIU M POPESCU PRIZE FOR EUROPEAN POETRY TRANSLATION 2005

19.30, Goodenough College, Mecklenburgh Square, London WC1N 2AB
Tickets Ł6/Ł4 concs. and Poetry Society members

Wine reception with readings from the 2005 shortlist, followed by the announcement of the winner of the 2005 Popescu Prize.
Details on www.poetrysociety.org.uk/news/events.htm and www.poetrysociety.org.uk/comp/popesc05.htm
Tickets and information are available from the Poetry Society Tel. 020 7420 9895, e-mail marketing@poetrysociety.org.uk
Sponsored by the Ratiu Foundation UK
Organised by the Poetry Society

PRESS RELEASE

The Shortlist for the Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation 2005 announced!

The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation was set up to acknowledge the extraordinary talent of a young Romanian translator, Corneliu M Popescu, who had beautifully translated the work of one of Romania’s leading poets, Mihai Eminescu, into English. Unfortunately Popescu died aged 19, in the 4 March 1977 earthquake in Romania, and the prize is a tribute to this prodigiously talented young man and indeed translators all over Europe. The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation is one of the cultural projects initiated by Ion Ratiu in the ‘80s.

The Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation, founded by the Poetry Society and the Ratiu Foundation UK, highlights the wealth of excellent poetry translations available. The prize is awarded every two years.

The success of the first Popescu prize in 2003 went way beyond the judges’ expectations and the Popescu Prize 2005 has exceeded expectations again with over 70 collections being submitted. Judges Alan Brownjohn and Dr Mike Phillips are now pleased to announce the shortlist for the Corneliu M Popescu Prize for European Poetry Translation 2005. They are:
  • Love at the Full (Lucien Becker, tr. Christopher Pilling - Flambard) France
  • Cuceriri Disperate / Desperate Conquests (Carmen Firan, tr. Julian Semilian - Editura ICR) Romania
  • Absurd Athlete (Yannis Kondos, tr. David Connolly - Arc Publications) Greece
  • The Night of Akhenaton (Ágnes Nemes Nagy, tr. George Szirtes - Bloodaxe Books) Hungary
  • A Voice (Anzhelina Polonskaya, tr. Andrew Wachtel - Northwestern University Press) Russia
  • The Bridge (Marin Sorescu, tr. Adam J Sorkin and Lidia Vianu, Bloodaxe Books) Romania

The Popescu Prize, as judge Alan Brownjohn says, is important because it “is intended to encourage translation, translators and all publishers who recognise the value of the art.” Peter Lewis of Flambard Press explains further “anything that encourages the reading public in this country to take notice of what is happening in other literatures is welcome, which is why the very few awards for literary translation are so important. They are not going to garner a tenth of the attention and publicity that awaits the Booker short list, or even long list, but they perform a really valuable reminder that there is an abundance of literary riches out there if we bother to take off our blinkers.”
  - For further information about the Poetry Society visit: www.poetrysociety.org.uk
  - For more information about the Ratiu Foundation UK visit: www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com

CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS IN ROMANIA’ (part II) a presentation by SIMONA NASTAC Monday 12 September 2005 19.00, The Romanian Cultural Centre, 8th Floor, 54-62 Regent Street, London W1B 5RE
Find out more about Romania’s visual arts scene from curator and art critic Simona Nastac, currently graduating MA Creative Curating, at the Goldsmiths College, University of London. Any issues you might have regarding Romanian contemporary art will be answered in a discussion after the presentation. Simona’s presentation and discussions will be followed by the projection of the film about visual arts scene in Romania: "Behind the Scene_ Question 4" by visual artist Nita Mocanu. Limited number of seats. If interested, book at mail@ratiufamilyfoundation.com before 7 September 2005. << Imagine an empty space, a physical and mental site of passage. Stop for a moment. The contextual significance of the place is made apparent through your journey, as the route you take marks a residual presence and also an absence. This is the Romanian pavilion in Venice Biennale this year. And the payoff is that it has won a prize. Yet the ‘in between’ is more than a concept, or a symbolic direction to locate Romania on a map. It is a statement and a state of mind. It tells not only where we are, but also what we are. Since the collapse of Communism, the Romanian people have had to reposition their political and cultural inheritance in line with an increasingly Western values system. This shift has affected all pockets of society, including the art world, which became conscious of the necessity to keep itself connected with the international art context to which it aspires. Consequently, the artists reoriented their discourses from explorations of their own individuality to a platform-generative type of artistic practice, replacing the reflexive strategies with more radical socially engaged discourses. Going beyond reflections of the ego, they have realized that it is more important to relate than to express. The Centre for Art Analysis in Bucharest; the Vector Association and Gallery along with the Periferic Biennial of Contemporary Art in Iasi; the Protokoll Gallery and Idea foundation and magazine in Cluj; H.arta group and Gallery in Timisoara; and the web magazine e-cart are some of the most active self-organised initiatives in Romania trying to bridge the gap between the obsolete institutional discourse and the audience. There are also established public art institutions such as the National Museum of Contemporary Art, the International Centre for Contemporary Art, former Soros Centre, and Galeria Noua, a municipal gallery in Bucharest. Whatever tensions or polemical conflicts there are between them, they all operate on the same vivid stage - undergoing transition towards the Western paradigm, yet striving to preserve its identity. This is because the Romanian art scene cannot be detached from the political context at large: it is a hybrid space reflecting its particular condition as result of the geographical, historical and cultural specifics, allowing contingent intersections, but demanding pertinent participation. Art practice can portray the region, but the region, in its varying states of political, economic and cultural development, portrays also the facets of this practice. To that end, if you have not seen the Romanian pavilion in Venice, don’t miss the chance to appreciate its emptiness in London. For however enduring is the sense of an empty place, we are definitely back. >> (Simona Nastac) This presentation is part of the CULTURE POWER program which is initiated by the Ratiu Foundation UK and designed for students and scholars interested in exploring the development of Romanian culture. The program consists of a series of seminars focused around a presentation followed by a constructive dialogue with an invited audience. Each event brings together an audience of experts, tutors and commentators in the relevant field, who might be interested in improving the project or taking it further. CULTURE POWER thereby aims to introduce the work of Ratiu scholars to a discerning and influential audience, not only through face to face discussion at the seminars but also by circulating papers and reports. This network aims to generate both an educational arena for the scholars and a major source of information about Romanian issues for an important target group.

‘CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTS IN ROMANIA’ a presentation by RALUCA VOINEA Monday 4 July 2005 18.00, The Romanian Cultural Centre, 8th Floor, 54-62 Regent Street, London W1B 5RE
There are few people who have not heard of Constantin Brancusi, possibly the greatest Romanian artist, and one of the foremost artists in the world. There are also few people not to know about the Romanian dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, and his dark, oppressive regime. What people generally don’t know is that there is more to art in Romania besides Brancusi and his legacy, and the fact that after 15 years since the revolution of 1989 which deposed Ceausescu there is a thriving contemporary art scene which anyone would find at least interesting. Find out more about Romania’s visual arts scene from curator and art critic Raluca Voinea, currently a 2nd year student in MA Curating Contemporary Art, at the Royal College of Art, London. Any issues you might have regarding Romanian contemporary art will be answered in a discussion after the presentation. Limited number of seats. If interested, book at mail@romanianculturalcentre.org.uk Those who have already booked, please ignore this reminder. This presentation is part of the CULTURE POWER program which is initiated by the Ratiu Foundation UK and designed for students and scholars interested in exploring the development of Romanian culture. The program consists of a series of seminars focused around a presentation followed by a constructive dialogue with an invited audience. Each event brings together an audience of experts, tutors and commentators in the relevant field, who might be interested in improving the project or taking it further. CULTURE POWER thereby aims to introduce the work of Ratiu scholars to a discerning and influential audience, not only through face to face discussion at the seminars but also by circulating papers and reports. This network aims to generate both an educational arena for the scholars and a major source of information about Romanian issues for an important target group.

THE STORY OF THE PANDA BEARS TOLD BY A SAXOPHONIST WHO HAS A GIRLFRIEND IN FRANKFURT

by Matei Visniec
Presented by Rouge28 Theatre
Directed by P. Piris and performed by
G. Cottalorda and A. Hypki

A flat, a bottle of fine wine, some cigarettes, 2 people in a bed and nine nights to meet each other.
She can open any door, hear through walls and speak without words. He lives through music. Their story is like no other: witness it and you will be transported… The Story of the Panda Bears… is set on the border between intimacy and isolation, waking and dreaming, light and dark.

Rouge28 Theatre presents contemporary European theatre in the UK, developing new forms of scenic language through experimentation. The company is made up of an international ensemble of performers, puppeteers and directors from France, Poland, USA and the UK. Members' previous performances include No Exit by JP Sartre, Old Clown Wanted by M.Visniec and Deatwatch by J.Genet. In May 2005 the company presented an adaptation of B.Vian's novel The Heartsnatcher in a show involving puppets and actors.

Poet, journalist, playwright, philosopher and dreamer, Matei Visniec's work has been performed in over 20 countries. He is the most performed Romanian playwright. A lover of surrealism and of the theatre of the absurd, in The Story of the Panda Bears… he excels at titillating our imagination, shaking our logic and provoking our consciousness.

Supported by the Ratiu Foundation UK and The Romanian Cultural Centre.
The Ratiu Foundation UK promotes and supports projects which further education and research in the culture and history of Romania and its people.
www.ratiufamilyfoundation.com
The Romanian Cultural Centre in London promotes Romanian cultural programs, maintains connections within the Romanian community in Britain and facilitates cultural exchanges between Britain and Romania.
www.romanianculturalcentre.org.uk/RCC/

8 - 14 August 2005
For the first time at the
Edinburgh fringe festival and
in a brand new translation

8-14 August at 14.45 (60mins)
Greyfriars Kirk House, Studio 2,
86 Candlemaker Row, EH1 2QA
Tickets Ł5.00, concs. Ł4.00
Venue box office: 08452 26 27 21
Venue Website: www.paradise-green.co.uk

To contact Rouge28 Theatre please call Géraldine on 07866034876 or email rouge28theatre@yahoo.co.uk

TURDA* CULTURAL WEEKEND (6 – 8 May 2005)

Theatre premiere / fashion show in the salt mine / candle lit dinner in the palace / walks among the Roman ruins
- Three days of festivities organised around the premiere of ‘The Man with the Suitcases’ by Eugen Ionescu, directed by Alexandru Dabija, at the Municipal Theatre, Turda.
- Premiere performance of the play Friday 6 May 2005.
- World class fashion show, Saturday 7 May 2005, by top Transylvanian fashion designers, deep in Turda‘s Salt Mine.
- Candle lit dinner, with period music, in the XVth Century palace where Transylvania‘s Diet signed the first act of religious toleration in the world.
- Silent auction with special prizes, for the benefit of the Turda Theatre’s building renovation.
- Opportunities to visit major natural and historical sites in the area, including the Roman Castrum, the Salt Baths, Cheile Turzii, Cheile Turului as well as a tour of Turda’s historic churches.
- Press conference by the Mayor of Turda Municipality in order to present featured tourist attractions in the Turda area in 2005.
For more information:
Biz Bash Events: + 40 (0) 21 255 3660 & Ratiu Center for Democracy, Turda: + 40 (0) 264 306 350

* Turda is a city in Transylvania, Romania, close to the better-known city of Cluj-Napoca. Turda has a history going back more than 2,000 years. It is most famous for its salt mine (Salina Turda), whose origins date from the Roman times, and for the nearby magnificent Cheile Turzii (Turda Gorges). There also are the ruins of a Roman castrum. Turda also has beautiful churches and old houses worth seeing.

TURDA FEST (2 – 4 September 2005)

CONCERT ANDA ANASTASESCU

The Constantin Silvestri International Foundation in association with The Lennox Berkeley Society present Anda Anastasescu in a Berkeley - Silvestri anniversary concert.
Monday 14 July, 7.30 p.m., Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2BP
Tickets: Ł15, Ł13, Ł10, Ł8; Box Office: 020 7935 2141
Supported by the Ratiu Foundation, The Anglo-Romanian Bank, Mrs Ursula Bagdasarjanz, Mr & Mrs David Nussbaum
Details on: http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk
Programme: Berkeley - Piano Sonata in A, Op. 20; Beethoven - Piano Sonata in D, Op. 10 No. 3; Silvestri - Suite Children Games No. 2; Debussy - Suite Bergamasque; L’Isle Joyeuse.

Since the 1989 Romanian revolution Anda Anastasescu’s life and career has become many-faceted. She has appeared in major concert halls and festivals and performed with such orchestras as the BBC Concert and the Salzburg Mozarteum Ensemble. She founded the London Schubert Players orchestra-in-residence at the French Institute in London. With them, she played and conducted in numerous concert tours, championed English music in Europe, Asia and South America, and undertook a charitable tour of Romania giving mini-concerts for thousands of disadvantaged children. She sparked a revival of the memory of Constantin Silvestri - the charismatic principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra 1961 - 1969 and composer - by introducing his music worldwide and establishing an international festival, competition and annual scholarships in his name. She has been nominated for the European Women of Achievements Awards, July 2003.
On Bastille Day and as a former winner of the Debussy Competition in Paris, she presents a programme with French connections, portraying an enigmatic and passionate Berkeley, a leonine Beethoven, an imaginative and sparkling Silvestri, and the ever-seductive Debussy.