The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley,
5,000 - 3,500 BC
The First Cucuteni Culture Exhibition in the US
"Before the glory that was Greece and Rome, even before the first cities of Mesopotamia or temples along the Nile, there lived in the Lower Danube Valley and the Balkan foothills people who were ahead of their time in art, technology and long-distance trade." - John Noble Wilford, The New York Times
This exhibit presented by ISAW - Institute for the Study of the Ancient World at NYU brings to the US for the first time more than 250 objects recovered from the graves, towns and villages of Old Europe, a cycle of related cultures that achieved a precocious peak of sophistication and creativity in what is now Southeastern Europe between 5,000-3,500 B.C.
Arranged through loan agreements with 20 museums in three countries, including Romania, Bulgaria and the Republic of Moldova, the exhibit will feature the exuberant art, enigmatic goddess cults, and impressive metal ornaments from Europe's first cradle of civilization.
RCINY is collaborating with ISAW on the public programming related to the exhibition, which includes roundtables, film screenings, and concerts. In connection with the exhibition opening, RCINY will organize and host a roundtable with the participation of the representatives from the Museum of National History of Romania and ISAW for an inside view on this important project: Crisan Museteanu (director), Nicolae Dragomir Popovici (head of the Department of Archeology), Ioan Opris (reseacher, Department of History), Corina Bors (archaeologist & museum specialist). The discussion will be also joined by Florica Zaharia, Conservator in Charge, Department of Textile Conservation at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.
PUBLIC PROGRAMMING
The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World is presenting a series of special events and public programs, accompanying The Lost World of Old Europe exhibition with the goal of furthering the understanding and appreciation of Romanian, Bulgarian and Moldovan culture.
*All events are free and open to the public; seating available on a first come first serve basis.
**Free guided tours are also available every Friday at 6 PM.
FILM SERIES
In partnership with the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, ISAW hosts a Romanian film series curated by film critic and Transylvania International Film Festival director, Mihai Chirilov. This four part series will focus on the development of Romanian society through distinct historical periods. Introductions to each film will be given by Oana Radu, Deputy Director for the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York. The series is made possible through the support of the Romanian National Center for Cinema, and courtesy of Palisades Tartan.
January 28, 2010, 7 PM
Morometii (The Journey)
Directed by Stere Gulea, 1987, 151 min
A remarkable adaptation of Marin Preda's eponymous novel. The action unfolds in the years preceding World War II. Central to it is a village in the Danube Plain, with its complex life, visible and invisible clashes between people, between individuals and various groups, with the villagers' constant preoccupation for more wealth, in a context of early consolidation of capitalism in the rural area. Against the background of a social shift – which will prove irreversible – the film follows the break-up of a traditional peasant family. Just like in the novel, the film is made in a realistic-mythological note, with Ilie Moromete – a Socratic character symbolic for the popular wisdom – marking a monumental performance for Victor Rebengiuc.
February 18, 2010, 7PM
Wasps Nest
Directed by Horea Popescu, 1986, 115 min
A sharp social satire about greed, hypocrisy and lack of morals, as well as a stylized picture of the rising bourgeoisie at the beginning of the 20th century, Wasps' Nest is an adaptation of Alexandru Kiriţescu's famous play "Gaiţele" (The Tattlers). Heirs of a family that made a fortune in trading, unmatched by education or finesse, the three elderly Duduleanu sisters keep a tight rein on their entire family. The two greedy sons of one of the Duduleanu sisters set their covetous eyes on their future inheritance, driving their sister to suicide and turning her funeral into a celebration of the considerable fortune they expect to receive. Although irrational and often driven by rather petty ideals, the characters portrayed are nonetheless fascinating, due to the energy they dedicate to achieving their goals. A grotesque moment at the graveyard, a fitting representation of the hate-filled and disloyal relations between the members of this privileged family, serves as the thoughtful and acute climax to the film.
March 4, 2010, 7 PM
Reenactment
Directed by Lucian Pintilie, 1968, 100 min
Pulled from theaters after two weeks and banned for the following 22 years, during which Lucian Pintilie himself took up exile in France, Reenactment riled the authorities because of the jaundiced eye it cast upon Romanian society in the early years of Ceauşescu's reign, though it's easy to imagine the Communist Party apparatchiks being even more taken aback by this film's skeptical attitude toward documentary reality and objective truth. The premise is simple enough: Following a drunken bar brawl, the two young men who started the fight are recruited to restage their actions for a state-sponsored "instructional film for young people" about the dangers of drinking. A portly district attorney in a white summer suit arrives to supervise the proceedings. Complications ranging from the absurd to the tragic ensue, while the line between fact and fiction becomes as muddy as the rain-soaked ground upon which the main characters tussle. Fresh from his equally impressive 1965 debut feature, Sunday at Six, Pintilie, then 35, was clearly awash in the convention-shattering fervor that was erupting in filmmaking all across Europe. Seen today, his films serve as a bridge from one Romanian New Wave to another. – Scott Foundas, LA Weekly
April 1, 2010, 7 PM
12:08 East of Bucharest
Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, 2006, 89 min
A provincial television station decides that it's going to produce a show on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the fall of the communist government, focusing on what transpired in that town at the exact time that Ceauşescu fell. Unhappily, the only two eyewitnesses the station can find are a hard-drinking history teacher and an elderly retiree who works as part-time Santa Claus. The show begins, and the two panel guests pour out their versions of what happened on Dec. 22, 1989. It doesn't take long for viewers to start phoning in their own versions of that day, often taking the eye witnesses to task for what they think are outright distortions. History -who remembers, and how-is at the heart of Corneliu Porumboiu's "12:08 East of Bucharest," co-winner of the Camera D'Or (Best First Film) at 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Porumboiu cleverly captures how even recent historical events take on shape and meaning according to how they explain or justify the present. - Richard Pena, Program Director, Film Society of Lincoln Center
MUSIC PERFORMANCES
January 22, 2010, 7 PM
Christine & Dinu Ghezzo and Friends
This special concert will highlight folk and traditional songs from different parts of Romania. Some of the musical traditions included are "Colinde" (Winter Songs/Carols), "Bocete" (Death Laments), "Doina" (Lyrical Songs) and "Wedding Songs". Each song will be presented with sensitivity to traditional methods of interpretation, while bringing in new elements such as sound samples of folk instruments and improvisation by the musicians. The music will express a full spectrum of universal human emotion and experience, while sharing the rich repertoire of Romanian traditional music. Each song will be introduced with a brief description and translation of the words, and time will be set aside for audience questions.
LECTURE SERIES
November 6, 6 PM
Nicolae Dragomir Popovici
Director of the Department of Archeology, National Museum of Romanian History
Built and Unbuilt Space in the Neolithic Danube
December 3, 6 PM
David Anthony
Professor of Anthropology at Hartwick College and Guest Curator, The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000-3500 BC
Title TBD
January 21, 2010 6 PM
Vladimir Slavchev
Scientific Associate, Varna Regional Museum of History
The Late Copper Age in the East Balkans and the Case of Varna
February 11, 2010, 6 PM
Peter Biehl
Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology, University at Buffalo
Deconstructing the Myth of the Great Mother Goddess: Masking and Breaking the Human Body in Old Europe
[Image: The 'Thinker' and Female Figurine from Cernavodă, Fired Clay, Hamangia, 5000–4600 bc, National History Museum of Romania, Bucharest]
