From March 12 to April 20, 2024, the Romanian Cultural Institute in Beijing participated in and organized five events (film, art, conference, science, poetry) for La Mois de la Francophonie, in partnership with the French Embassy and the French Institute, as follows:
1. Monday, March 12, at 7:00 p.m., the French Institute kicked off "Le Printemps des Poetes," a project dedicated to Francophone poetry, where ICR Beijing contributed six sound poems written by Tristan Tzara: “Pour Compte” (6.02), “from Phases”, “1949”, “L'amiral Cherche Une Maison à Louer (Tristan Tzara, Marcel Janco, Richard Hulsenbeck)”, “Dada Into Surrealism” (1959), “Toto Vaca” (Maori song), 1924 [3:17], “An Petro”, 1924 [0:34], “La Panka”, 1916-17 [1:53]. The poems were presented by Ms. Celia Hoarau from the French Embassy and listened to in three segments, being appreciated by the audience. The event invited three other poets - French/Vietnamese, a Belgian poet, and a poet from Morocco. For the 25th edition, "The Spring of Poets" highlighted the theme "Grace," celebrating connections between poets and readers through readings, music, interventions, and workshops that extended across China throughout March, with poets from 20 Francophone countries participating. Over 50 guests were present at the event
2. From March 15-31, 2024, ICR Beijing supported the participation of the film "Malmkrog" (2020, Cristi Puiu, in French) at the "Rencontres du Cinéma Francophone" international festival in China. Thus, Romania was among the 20 Francophone countries selected for this festival. The film “Malmkrog” was particularly appreciated by the French Institute and chosen for screenings at five Alliance Francaise representatives: Shenyang (March 19), Tianjin (March 24), Shanghai (March 30), Xi'an (March 31), Beijing (March 31).
“Malmkrog” (2020) is a period drama directed by Cristi Puiu, based on a text by Vladimir Soloviov “Trois entretiens”, awarded at the Berlin International Film Festival for best direction – Encounters section. The cast includes Frédéric Schulz-Richard, Agathe Bosch, Diana Sakalauskaitė, Marina Palii, Ugo Broussot, and István Téglás. The action takes place at the end of December, at the Apafi family mansion, where several aristocrats have gathered to spend Christmas together. Divided into six chapters, each named after the protagonists, the film presents a series of conversations about war, peace, and morality all carried out in French, with subtitles in English and Chinese. The film was very well received by the Chinese audience and the halls were full, totaling over 250 spectators.
3. March 20: International Francophonie Day was marked by ICR Beijing by opening the exhibition "Peace through Art: The Dadaist Manifesto of Tristan Tzara" on Wednesday, March 20, at 11:00 a.m., at the ICR Beijing headquarters in Galaxy SOHO. The event was attended by Mr. Xavier Loustanou, First Secretary of Education and Culture at the French Embassy, Director of the La Mois de la Francophonie program in China, who delivered a short speech about the successful collaboration between the Romanian and French cultural institutes and his desire to highlight the richness and diversity of Francophone countries.
Subsequently, the guests watched an introductory material about the DADA Movement and its reasons, followed by the screening of the animated short film "Opinci" (2019, Damian and Anton Groves). “Opinci” (2019, Anton Groves, Damian Groves) is an animated drama based on a true story about a globetrotter and a single father trying to teach his daughter a lesson about death, heroism, and the absence of her mother from their lives. The film is based on the true story of Dan Dumitru, who in 1910, while studying in Paris, accepted a challenge created by the French Tourism Club to walk 100,000 km around the world.
The DADA exhibition offered a brief retrospective of the most important creations and publications of Tristan Tzara and other universally renowned avant-gardists (Francis Picabia, Marcel Duchamp, André Breton, René Magritte, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Sonia Delaunay, Max Ernst, Alberto Giacometti, Yves Tanguy, Jean Arp, Marcel Iancu etc.) presenting 100 copies of posters, drawings and graphic works, vintage photographs, avant-garde creations and publications, as well as excerpts from the Dadaist poetic work on the theme of peace. This was organized with the help of the International Dada Archives, Special Collections and Archives, University of Iowa Libraries, USA: https://dada.lib.uiowa.edu and Professor Timothy Shipe, curator Iowa Archives of the Avant-garde, curator International Dada Archives, Editor Dada/Surrealism. The exhibition could be visited starting March 20, for a month, from Monday to Friday, between 09:00-16:00, at the ICR Beijing headquarters in Galaxy SOHO.
The event was realized with the support of the French Embassy in China and the French Institute, being included in the series of events La Mois de la Francophonie in China, enjoying ample promotion. Over 70 special guests attended the exhibition opening, including the cultural attaché of the Romanian Embassy in the People's Republic of China, diplomats, university professors, artists, and art lovers, both Chinese and foreign.
4. Friday, March 22, at 6:00 p.m., ICR Beijing hosted the conference "From Transylvania to Francophonie: An Invitation to Intercultural Travel," delivered by Armand Sebastian Florea, a Romanian settled in France, director of the CIAC (Interactive Center of Cognitive Art) in Bordeaux and a pioneer of the concept of Cognitive Art. We were particularly honored to have with us Mr. Xavier Lacoustonou, First Secretary for Culture and Education at the French Embassy, and Ms. Helen Bekker, director of the French Institute in China.
Armand Sebastian Florea discussed topics such as the Romanian cultural heritage, his professional journey in France, and his connections with China, highlighting how these experiences have contributed to the development of a new field – cognitive art. He also explained how he combined various fields of study, such as live art, cognitive sciences, and artificial intelligence, in an artistic form that includes audiovisual, multimedia, body arts, theater, music, martial arts, smells, hydraulic mechanisms, sound systems, robots, games, and physical phenomena, to provide new tools for discernment, a fresh perspective, and the reflexes necessary to navigate the world of technological manipulation. The conference was conducted as a PPT presentation, with live demonstrations and video materials, and it aroused the interest of the Chinese audience, who asked numerous questions of the guest at the end.
It was a fascinating evening, full of intercultural dialogue and artistic discovery.
Armand Sebastian Florea is the director of CIAC (Interactive Center of Cognitive Art) in Bordeaux. Designer, theorist, director, and performer artist, Armand Sebastian Florea is the creator of the concept of Cognitive Art. His performances gather various forms of art and expression (audiovisual, multimedia, body arts, theater, song, martial arts, smells, hydraulic mechanisms, sound systems, robots, games, physical phenomena, etc.), in which three worlds interact: live art, cognitive sciences, and artificial intelligence. For him, art means to simulate to stimulate. Armand Florea uses the Actors Studio method to interact in real time with the representation habits of the spectators, their landmarks, reflexes, and resources. The purpose of this artistic performance is to offer new ways of understanding, a fresh perspective, and the necessary reflexes in the face of scientific manipulation.
5. March 26, 3:00 p.m. During the Apéro des Sciences conference session, the main speaker, Andreea-Ema Stoian, presented the most important Romanian female personalities in the field of science, innovative women who studied in Europe and whose discoveries had a significant impact worldwide. The event took place at the French Institute.
Among the personalities presented were: Ana Aslan (1897–1988), Ștefania Mărăcineanu (1882–1944) - one of the first Romanian physicists; Elisa Leonida Zamfirescu (1887–1973) – among the first female engineers in the world, Henrietta Delavrancea-Gibory (1894–1987) - a remarkable biochemist, pioneer in the study of enzymes and metabolic processes, with valuable contributions to medical research and biochemistry, Elena Caragiani Stoenescu – the first female aviator in Romania, Aurora Gruescu (born May 11, 1914, Oituz – died 2005) the first female forestry engineer in the world, Sofia Ionescu– the first female neurosurgeon in the world, Raluca Van Staden – Romanian inventor, who discovered the sensor that can detect multiple forms of cancer in a patient's body, Daniela Rus (1963 - present) the first woman appointed to head the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT.
The events organized by ICR Beijing in collaboration with the French Institute have successfully achieved the objectives for participation in the series dedicated to Francophonie in China, diversifying promotion platforms, extending the audience, and optimizing the use of resources offered by the organizers. They were particularly appreciated by our partners and the Chinese public, enjoying ample promotion on social media and on the partners' websites, in the local media.
