AMMAN -- A two-day event celebrating Romanian culture will start today under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania and the Ministry of Culture.
The "Romanian Cultural Days," announced yesterday by Culture Minister Adel Tweisi and Romanian Ambassador Radu Onofrei, will begin at the Royal Cultural Centre at 6:00pm with an exhibition of traditional Romanian handicrafts and an hour-long song and dance show performed by one of the country's folklore groups, "Bihorul."
The events are a celebration of Romania's national day, which falls on December 1 and commemorates the union of the Romanian Kingdoms beginning in 1859 with the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia.
The modern state of "Greater Romania" was fully unified in 1918 with the admittance of Bessarabia, Transylvania and Bukovina.
Onofrei said this year his country is also celebrating its accession into the European Union (EU), set to take place on January 1, adding that Romania will seek to act as a cultural bridge between East and West.
"We will be active in promoting the European communitarian policies towards this area. We will be a catalyst in the enhancement of the relationship between Europe and this region as a whole, because I think this is a major factor for [the creation of] peace, stability and understanding," he said.
"We have a strong relationship with Jordan, not only in official terms, but there are also many family ties and deep cultural relationships" he said, adding that over ten thousand Jordanians graduated from Romanian universities during the communist era. As a result, Jordan is home to many mixed Jordanian-Romanian families.
Located on the Black Sea at the crossroads between the Western world, Central Asia and the Middle East, Romania's ethnically diverse population of 23 million is home to over 40,000 Muslims.
It is for this reason, and its long history of exploring Orientalist dialogue, Onofrei believes his country will help mobilise stronger cross-cultural communication between the EU and the Arab world.
Tweisi said festivities like the Romanian Cultural Days provide a forum where people from different backgrounds can exchange ideas.
"It gives the chance for people of the world to look at each other. This helps enhance cultural dialogue in face of cultural clash. I believe that which cannot be done by politics can be done by experiencing culture," he said.
A second exhibition, entitled "Art Nouveau in Romania" will begin on November 27 followed by an evening inauguration of a children's drawing exhibit, "Romania Seen by the Jordanian Children."
All events, to take place between November 26 - 28, are open to the general public.
By Cheryl Haines
© Jordan Times 2006
