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President Iohannis, at the official opening of Europalia International Arts Festival in Brussels
The Europalia International Arts Festival, where Romania is a special guest, was officially opened on Tuesday at the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts in the presence of Romania's President Klaus Iohannis and members of the Belgian royal family.
Iohannis, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde visited the highlight of the festival, the "Brancusi. Sublimation of form" exhibition. The exhibition, the most important dedicated to the Romanian sculptor over the last decades and the main event of the festival, includes about 200 works, letters, films and other documents that come from museums in Romania and also from the US and France. Among the sculptures on display are "Cumintenia pamantului' (The Wisdom of the Earth), "Sarutul" (The Kiss) and 'Rugaciune' (Prayer).
Afterwards, they participated in the official opening of the Europalia Festival - one of the most important arts festivals in the world. During the ceremony, speeches were given by Europalia officials, Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders and Romanian Foreign Minister Ramona Manescu, respectively, and the RaRo-SoNoRo ensemble performed a concert called "Romanian Rhapsody."
Didier Reynders said that he would like for the Europalia Romania festival to be an opportunity for strengthening the political, economic and cultural ties in a sustainable way, but also for creating even stronger bonds among citizens.
I think we can call 2019 the year of Romania in Brussels. It started with the co-ordination for the first time of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of this year and continued with the participation of Romania in the Europalia Festival for the next four months. I think that these events are the best way to illustrate the great transformations of Romania that were possible in 30 years of freedom, democracy and prosperity. (...) Europe is an important opportunity to promote cultural values, cultural heritage, multicultural traditions and our identity, said Manescu.
Europalia Romania is held under the High Patronage of the President of Romania and of the Belgian king and queen.
The festival, organised October 2, 2019 - February 2, 2020, includes events in the field of visual arts, performing arts, music, film, literature, cultural education that will unfold in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom.
This year's edition marks of Europalia's 50th anniversary. Romania will stage about 250 cultural events. Our country also participated in the 2007 edition of the festival
Europalia Romania is carried out under the High Patronage of Romania's President and Belgian Kings and Queens.