The Romanian Cultural Institute (RCI) expects all the nocturnal devourers of culture on Friday, June 24th, starting 7.30 PM (19.30), for the 5th edition of the Night of the Institutes. This cultural enterprise will engage in a six-hour marathon organized in partnership with the Greek Cultural Foundation, the Camões Institute/Embassy of Portugal and the Delegation of Wallonie-Bruxelles.
During this six-hour trip, we shall witness a most fascinating mélange of the finest Portuguese tastes, images and story-telling sessions. We dessert Lusitania, only to be welcomed by the joyous sounds of the Greek taverns, in addition to which Greek traditional dishes and sweets, offered by the Les Saveurs d'Yveline team, will only complete the Mediterranean atmosphere. The Armenian coffee provided by the fascinating Mr. Gheorghe Florescu, will keep us awake and in high spirits as to enjoy the mesmerizing musical stories brought forth by the Old Romanian Musical Ensemble, Anton Pann, who will ensure the continuation of the musical program organized by the Romanian Cultural Institute entitled "When we were the Byzantium".
A cultural guide
The programme will start at 7.30 PM with the Portuguese exhibition, "Olhares romenos sobre Lisboa" organized by the "Francisc Mraz" School of Photography, presenting various Romanian artistic visions of the Portuguese capital city. Meanwhile, in the courtyard, we shall have a break of knowledge with a "How do you pronounce it?" fun game that will reward beginners à portuguesa.
One of the most important moments of the evening will commence at 8.00 PM in RCI's Hall with a series of readings from Nikos Kazantzakis and Fernando Pessoa's most renamed bilingual works, published by Humanitas Publishing House. The readings shall be performed by Lavrentia Karamaniola who will read from Nikos Kazantzakis, while Dinu Flămând and Daniel Perdigaõ will perform their selection from Fernando Pessoa. Various young translators of the National Book Center, alongside acknowledged writers such as Claudiu Komartin, Nora Iuga, Doina Ioanid, Andra Rotaru, Daniel Bănulescu, Sorin Despot, Teodor Duna and Stoian G. Bogdan will do their part of the reading sessions in the wonderful set of RCI's courtyard.
Departing from the Portuguese and Greek shores, we arrive to a Fanariot Bucharest welcoming you with Old court music or slum music, that depict the very essence of Romanian spirit and humor, going back to its Byzantine roots. This musical segment of the voyage will be provided by the Old Romanian Music Ensemble, Anton Pann and will start at 9.30 PM.
Finally, we exit the charms of the past and look towards the future with the concert of Tangtype, an experimental band coming from Belgium thus ending the night with a concert that will start at 11.30 PM.
ARCEN volunteers will give a helping hand to the organizers (and we are very grateful for that!).
The full schedule of the event is available on www.icr.ro/noapteainstitutelor2011
