Mihail Sebastian and the Young People with Lily Souls, a documentary webcomic created by Diaspora Civică Berlin, an organization supporting the community of Romanians in Germany's capital, will be presented on January 27 in Bucharest, at the headquarters of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR).

Inspired by the diary of writer Mihail Sebastian, the webcomic combines comics, animation, and original music to explore the Romanian interwar period and the rise of extremism. The project "sheds light on how democracies are eroded by the gradual rise of intolerance and hatred in society."

The installation and webcomic are created by visual artists Liviu Bărbulescu, Răzvan Petre, and Lu Pop, with musical illustrations by Raluca Furtună (Ruka), George Irimescu, Șerban Popadiuc, Daniel Enache and remixed by Saluna (Andrei Țîrcă).

The ICR offices in Chisinau, London, Budapest, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Warsaw, Berlin, Stockholm, Vienna, Tel Aviv, Venice, Lisbon, and New York will also host events commemorating the victims of the Holocaust.

Lucia Hossu Longin's documentary Sebastian, focused on the Romanian writer Mihail Sebastian, will be screened at ICR Madrid on January 27.

The Palais Béhague, the HQ of Romania's Embassy in Paris, will host on January 27 the concert Missing Voices, with a program of works by Pál Hermann, Dan Belinfante, Leo Smit, Henriëtte Bosmans and Maurice Ravel. Dimitri Malignan (piano) and Sarah Bayens (violin) are the performers.

A multimedia exhibition by researcher Irina Weiner-Spirescu and a recital from musicians of the Neue Lausitzer Philharmonie orchestra at the Gerhart Hauptmann Theater in Görlitz are scheduled for January 28 at the Synagogue in Görlitz. They are part of a wider event exploring "the contribution of the Royal House of Romania to the complex process of political and social emancipation of the Jewish community."

The exhibition Images from the Past. The Holocaust in Romania will open at ICR Tel Aviv on January 30, while ICR New York hosts on January 31 a performance inspired by Norman Manea's autobiographical novel The Return of the Hooligan. Conceived as a theater workshop, the performance has been adapted from Manea's novel by the Romanian-American writer and playwright Saviana Stănescu.

The full list of events at other ICR branches is available here.

(Photo: Mihail Sebastian și tinerii cu sufletul de crin Facebook Page)

simona@romania-insider.com