‘Culture Power’ is a programme initiated by the Ratiu Foundation, consisting of a number of seminars focused around a presentation followed by a constructive dialogue with an invited audience.

The domains are varied, ranging from contemporary art to money remittances and political theory, passing through architectural studies.

David Webster, acting Chief Executive of the Anglo-Romanian Economic and Political Forum, and a great friend of Romania and Romanian culture, has agreed to chair the discussions, and the first presentation in this formula took place on 7 December 2006.

26 January 2006 – Special guest: Dan Perjovschi, a Post-modern Ex-Communist – presentation by Dan Perjovschi

Dan Perjovschi, the internationally acclaimed Romanian artist, has presented his work in the context of Romanian and international contemporary art.

“Dan Perjovschi uses drawing as an instrument to deal with socially relevant issues. Among many tools, he utilizes books and posters to convey images. He has created a type of applied drawing, which also represents a critical commentary on portraying drawing as a decorative and expressive form of art.”

27 February 2006 – ‘‘Tiny Tarkovskis’ Meet the Market. The Strange Death and the Miraculous Resurrection of the Romanian Documentary Film in Post-Socialism’, by Adina Bradeanu

Adina Bradeanu is a doctoral student in the School of Media , Arts and Design at Westminster University , London .

Drawing on clips from films produced over the past twenty years, Adina Bradeanu commented on some funny-sad confessions about what it was like being a documentary film-maker in the Romania of the 1980s. Adina traced the processes by which a professional community confronted with a massive deficit of public image negotiated its revival within the shifting terrain of post-socialism.

27 March 2006 – ‘Epoca de Aur / The Golden Epoch. Portrait of a Dictator’, by Mihai Risnoveanu

The so-called ‘Nicolae Ceausescu Era’ has left an indelible mark on Romania. This presentation, accompanied by images, traced the origins of one of the strangest personality cults of the second half of the 20th century. A presentation about the ‘brilliant builder of civilization and New Country, hero among the heroes of the Nation, fierce patriot and continuous revolutionary, thinker of genius, political man of worldwide renown.’

Mihai Risnoveanu is an unaffiliated art historian and critic.

22 May 2006 – ‘The Talented Mr. Psalmanazar - A Footnote to an Enlightened England ’, by Elena Butoescu

Considered a ‘minor model of fraud and repentance’, a man who called himself George Psalmanazar, made his appearance in London in 1703 pretending to have come from Formosa, an island subject to the emperor of Japan, according to his own statements. This presentation set out to re-evaluate Psalmanazar’s case as a cultivated fraud.

Elena Butoescu is a Junior Lecturer in English Studies at the University of Craiova, Romania, and was present in Britain for research Cambridge University .

9 June 2006 – H.ARTA (visual arts group from Timisoara, Romania)

H.ARTA presented the group’s activities in Romania, as well as an overview of the local contemporary art scene. H.ARTA talked about their participation at the Periferic Biennale 7 in Iasi, Romania, as well as about theur project, ‘Usually I do this’, also presented at City University in London, on the 12th of June.

H.ARTA group was founded in 2001 by Maria Crista, Anca Gyemant and Rodica Tache, and it appeared as a reaction to the traditionalist system in contemporary Romanian art.

15 June 2006 – ‘Heterotopia Urbana’ by Ruxandra-Iulia Stoica

This presentation investigated the cultural values of historic urban areas and their theoretical construction between the desirable features of the urban fabric and their meaning and the specificity of urban fabric and its historical construction and significance.

Ruxandra is a PhD candidate in Architectural History and Theory at The University of Edinburgh. Her research investigates the historical evolution of urban conservation ideology in relationship to architectural theory in general, and seeks to reveal its political and cultural determinism.

22 August 2006 – ‘The Nature of Language in the Orthodox Church Architecture’, by Tudor Rebengiuc

In places like Romania, despite massive post-communist building activity, the current practice of Orthodox Church Architecture does not measure the quality of its predecessors. As part of the liturgical arts of the Orthodox Church, the understanding of this architecture is linked with that of the icon, central to Orthodoxy. This presentation aimed to reveal the particular nature of language as implied in the Orthodox Church tradition.

Tudor Rebengiuc is a graduate in Architecture at the School of Architecture and Interior Design, Cincinnati , Ohio , USA .

5 October 2006 – ‘Site and Vision’ by Tudor Prisacariu

This presentation aimed to deliver something new. First of all, the brand new website of the Romanian Cultural Centre in London , specially built to enable the Cultural Centre to better serve its audience, enabling the RCC to deliver information easily. Also presented was the fresh vision on contemporary Romanian realities. Through photographs, the presentation gave to all the occasion to see Romania through the eyes of a new generation of artists.

Tudor Prisacariu is a web designer and photographer, at the moment a student at Richmond University , London . He is also the webmaster of the RCC’s website.

6 November 2006 – ‘Romania’s Europeanisation Process’ by Raluca Boroianu

This presentation tried to demonstrate that Romania’s successful ‘Europeanisation’ does not rely on its pre-accession power of adaptation, but rather on its post-accession ability to project its influence in the EU arena.

Raluca Boroianu is currently studying for the MSc International Relations at London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, where her research focuses on the policies of EU enlargement in a wider international relations framework.

20 November 2006 – ‘Remittances in the EU Context-the Need for Public/Private Initiatives: Case Study on Romania’ by Alexandra Mihaela Delcea

Romania, a member of the EU starting with January 2007, will probably remain a labour exporting country to more developed economies. Thus, remittances sent by Romanians are likely to increase. The presentation also looked at the Romanian migrants in the UK. Hypothetical future scenarios are discussed with the aim of encouraging public/private initiatives to attract remittances in various mutually beneficial investment projects.

Alexandra Mihaela Delcea is currently studying towards the exams in insurance organized by the Chartered Insurance Institute (UK). She obtained the master in Economics from UCL in 2005.

7 December 2006 – ‘Who is holding the conch? On the importance of International Relations theory upon world politics’ by Simona Manea

Speaking with authority is not an aim per se but rather a condition for being able to create and/or influence the framework within which interaction takes place. The presentation discussed the role of ‘theory’ upon understanding and doing international politics, the purpose of a rather new science – International Relations, its different claims and (potential) policy implications.

Simona Manea is currently enrolled as a PhD student at London School of Economics and Political Science in the Department of International Relations.