The Romanian parliamentary parties and several cultural organizations have submitted their proposals for the appointment of the director and members in the management board of the Romanian Cultural Institute ICR.

The main mission of the ICR is to promote Romanian culture in the country and abroad, and increase its visibility, through its network of 19 institutes located all over the world. The ICR has branches in Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Budapest, Chisinau, Istanbul, Lisbon, London, Madrid, New York, Paris, Prague, Rome, Stockholm, Szeged, Tel Aviv, Venice, Vienna, and Warsaw.

The management of ICR is made up of a president, who holds a minister rank, two vice-presidents, who have a state secretary rank, all appointed and revoked by the Senate, at the proposal of its Permanent Bureau.

For 2017, the ICR has a budget of RON 34.8 million (approximately EUR 7.8 million), up 0.09% compared to 2016, Agerpres reported. For 2018 it has an estimated budget of RON 36.7 million (EUR 8 million) and for 2019 of RON 36.9 million (EUR 8.2 million).

The Social Democrat Party (PSD) proposed fashion designer Liliana Ţuroiu to head the ICR. Ţuroiu is a lecturer at the Fine Arts University in Bucharest, and a president and founder of Altum Studio Design Foundation. Her costume and photography exhibition Zestrea (The Dowry) was on display at this year’s Venice Carnival, where it went with the support of the Bucharest City Hall, in partnership with the ICR. In 2008, she was the official designer of the outfits Romanian representatives wore at the NATO summit organized in Bucharest.

The Save Romania Union (USR) proposed choreographer and cultural manager Cosmin Manolescu and theater critic and cultural policies expert Cristina Modreanu for the vice-president position.

Cosmin Manolescu is the executive director of the Gabriela Tudor Foundation. Throughout his career, he worked alongside personalities of the dance world such as Baguet, Christian Trouillas, Ko Murobushi, Gesc Gelabert, Allyson Green, Alain Platel and others. Since 1998, he has been running dance workshops for children, actors, professional dancers, for the general public and for persons with disabilities in the country and abroad.

Cristina Modreanu holds a PHD in theater from the Theater and Film University in Bucharest and she is the author of five books on Romanian theater. She is the editor of the performing arts magazine Scena.ro which she co-founded in 2008, a curator for theater and performance events and an associate professor at Center for Excellence in Visual Studies, Bucharest University.

The National Liberal Party (PNL) proposed Radu Carp and Irina Cornişteanu for the vice-president position.

Radu Carp is a professor at the Political Science Faculty of the University of Bucharest and a member in the administration board of the Romanian Public Television TVR. Irina Cornişteanu currently runs the Romanian Cultural Institute in Vienna.

Radu Boroianu, the current director of the ICR, was also proposed by several cultural organizations. He is supported by the Romanian Theater Union UNITER, the Timisoara European Capital of Culture 2021 Association, the Targu-Jiu Branch of the Romanian Fine Arts Union, the Constantin Brâncuși Center for Research, Documentation and Promotion in Targu Jiu, the Romanian Union of Professional Journalists, the Shakespeare Festival in Craiova, the International Theater Festival in Sibiu, and the Soleil de l'est International Cultural Association.

According to the law, parliamentary groups and creative unions submit proposals for candidates to the Senate's Culture and Media Committee and Foreign Policy Committee. The candidates are heard in a joint meeting, after which the two commission draft a common proposal, which is then presented to the Senate. The Senate then votes the list of candidates.

The Senate’s Permanent Bureau decided on March 27 to extend by 15 days the deadline for filing nominal proposals for members in the ICR management board, according to Agerpres.

editor@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Ven Mihail/ panoramio.com)