Sighişoara » ProEtnica Festival
The ProEtnica programme provided three different forum settings addressing the theme of local traditions.The most prominent for the audiences was the performing arts programme, with dance and music performances on the main open-air stage in the citadel square of the old part of Sighişoara. The supplementary programme presented academic/cultural discussions on themes related to the regional coexistence of ethnic communities in what is today Romania, in addition to visual arts exhibitions by contemporary artists from the participating ethnic communities, information stands and a crafts bazaar.
A three-day MELT workshop was held during the festival with the goal of merging or "melting" traditions. A music workshop based on experiences gained in Vienna was led by Michael Fischer from Vienna, supported by MELT musicians from Birmingham, Munich and Sighişoara. At the end of the festival, they presented their melted experiences, "Azul, azul, azul, Sighişoara" in a concert on the main stage of the ProEtnica Festival.
The results of local research works were presented in the exhibitions "Hungarian Traditions in Sighişoara/Segesvar" and "Synagogues of Southern Transylvania". The former exhibition displayed Hungarian clothing and everyday objects, while the latter examined the fate of Transylvania’s synagogues after the mass Jewish emigration, capturing the history of these buildings in fascinating photographs. over the course of the project photos presenting the structural condition of the buildings were taken and their unique story recorded in personal interviews. Many of these buildings have recently undergone, or will soon be subject to, restoration or conversion projects and thus may well lose (or have already lost) a signifi cant degree of individual uniqueness. The photo captions were expressly composed with the intention of communicating to the reader a snapshot of each synagogue's own distinctive history and fate. In keeping, the newly renovated synagogue in Sighişoara was ceremonially opened during the ProEtnica Festival.
Go back or to the project's website.