Timișoara 1989, Timișoara 2023

In 2023, the city of Timișoara (in western Romania) will be a European capital of culture, an honorary title the Parliament in Strasbourg has consistently granted to cities since 1985 with a view to highlighting the richness and diversity of cultures in Europe. In 2007, when Romania joined the European Union, the Romanian city of Sibiu shared this title with Luxemburg. Actually Sibiu was the first Romanian city to have been designated European capital of culture and has become an increasingly attracting travel destination ever since. In the week that just ended, Timisoara launched an event timetable for the next year, which includes scores of projects with a frequency of nearly 30 projects per week.

"Next year is a historic opportunity for the city and also for Romania. It is the chance of our transformation as a city, community or country. And I would like that after a couple of years when we look back to 2023 to say that this title didn't change only the city's cultural life but the entire city" says Timisoara's mayor Domnic Fritz

This grandiose cultural project is expected to bring together recipients of the Nobel prize in literature such as Orhan Pamuk and Olga Tokarczuk, but also Peter Slotterdijk, maybe the best known and disputed German philosopher of the moment in a dialogue with Andrei Ujică. The children's choir Singing Moellenbeek of Brussels, the Manchester-based dance troupe the Chameleon Company, the theatre troupe Rimini Protokoll, as well as orchestras of Gera and Cologne are expected to delight the audiences attending the events. The Belfast Ensemble and Dutch pianist Joep Beving have also announced their participation.

This mega cultural project also involves the participation of Romanian artists of international repute such as Brancusi and Brauner and visitors will also have the opportunity of seeing the Contemporary art biennale. Visitors will be given the chance of attending concerts given by Romanian orchestras under the batons of reputed directors such as Cristian Măcelaru and Gabriel Bebeşelea and watch productions signed by famous Romanian directors such as Andrei Şerban and Adina Pintilie, who represented Romania at the Biennale of Contemporary Art in Venice.

In another development, Timisoara is these days seeing events devoted to marking 33 years since the anti-communist Revolution of 1989, which include a series of shows, film screenings, concerts and religious services. The anti-communist revolution of 1989 kicked off here in Timisoara on December 16th and extended to the capital and other cities in a couple of days. The Day of Victory is celebrated on December 20th, when Timisoara became Romania's first city free of communism.

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