20 June 2012

To the Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta @email

Romanian Government, General Secretariat @email ; @email

To the Romanian Senate @email ; @email

We are hundreds of artistic and cultural organizations, associations and networks in Europe, representing and in touch with hundreds of thousands of people of all cultures and classes. We wish to protest strongly against the current Romanian government’s proposal to change the mission and tutelage of the Romanian Cultural Institutes.

We beg you to recognize the excellent, accountable, efficient and effective work that the ICRs have been doing and to leave their mission, independence and tutelage the way it is now - we see nothing wrong, but only right; it does not need to be ‘fixed’!

We and our audiences have learned about the beauty of Romanian culture through these Institutes; we have learned of the richness of contemporary thought in Romania and we have had the good fortune to ‘discover’ and work with the finest of both young and accomplished Romanian artists... all thanks to the independent Romanian Cultural Institutes.

With far less resources than other state cultural institutes, ICR has accomplished a truly admirable task of putting Romanian art and artists onto a very competitive international cultural map in a relatively short period. This is in a very large part due to the innovative approaches of addressing international cultural markets exercised during the presidency of Horia-Roman Patapievici.

Like the Goethe and French Institutes, the British Council and many more, the Romanian Cultural Institutes form a precious neutral space for international cultural exchange, supporting the emergence and development of international cultural collaboration and exchange. Like the other cultural institutes, the ICR’s correct stereotypes, support talent, internationalize careers, spread the understanding of the best of their cultures.

Romania is a signatory to many international treaties and declarations, some legally binding and some not, which oblige states to pro-actively support freedom of artistic and cultural expression. An “emergency” measure to radially change the ICR mission and submit it to obvious politicized control is against the spirit and the letter of these documents.

Yours sincerely