Casa Artelor – Center for Regional Activities and Resources opened on Tuesday, May 7, for the Sibiu public. The rehabilitated building has been transformed into an educational and cultural space and is the first center that will bring together the learning, promotion and sale of Romanian art crafts.
The event was attended by craftsmen from both Sibiu and Romania, as well as representatives of the administrative and cultural institutions in the city, as well as representatives of the Norwegian partners that the project had.
“This project is like my third child. I have cared for it and continue to care for it and I want it to grow beautifully because it deserves everything that intangible heritage resources and our identity values mean. It wasn’t easy, but why is today a historic day? This year marks 15 years of collaboration with the partner from Norway, projects that shaped the infrastructure of the cultural museum sector in Romania, projects that developed the cultural tourism product and placed the Astra Museum on the map of museums in Europe”, said Ciprian Ștefan, the director of the Museum Astra.
“A benchmark institution in national museology”
The event was also attended by Daniela Cîmpean, the president of the Sibiu County Council, who emphasized the importance of the inauguration of the center, especially since 25 folk craftsmen have already been certified here.
“Today is a historical moment, as the director also said, a historical moment that has left its mark on the development of the city since the 16th century, becoming a cultural hub of the 21st century. And the main resource for the preservation and valorization of the identity elements in the region. Certification of skills for folk craftsmen, vocational training in cultural entrepreneurship provides the key components for quality cultural tourism and sustainable development for communities.
All this as well as the way in which the spaces of this building are organized with production areas, folk art galleries, cafe and multi-purpose spaces prove once again that the support that the County Council provides for a standard institution in national museology and an example for the international competition, whose results in recent years have placed the county on the map of European cultural tourism, is fully justified,” she said.
Support for Romanian craftsmen and multidisciplinary workshops and courses
The objectives of this center are mainly aimed at supporting Romanian craftsmen, providing an educational space where Romanian artists can learn how to turn their passion into a business by organizing multidisciplinary courses and workshops, but also providing an exhibition space and a gallery of art for sale for products carefully curated by the museum team.
“The year 2023 was generous with investments in Sibiu County. The Sibiu County Council invested a lot in Sibiu, from schools, nurseries, kindergartens, roads to school transport or road infrastructure, and obviously the cultural field could not be missing. (..) Dear Ciprian Ștefan, from the first day of my mandate I looked to you and asked you to become my honorary advisor because I saw what you managed to do from a cultural institution, to be open to the public, to attracts daily visitors, to be a magnet for quality culture and at the same time for multiplication of development.
The concept that this house of arts offers in Sibiu County is a concept that will help in the future those who are keepers of popular traditions through skills certification, through value including on the labor market and the possibility of preservation and multiplication for the future”. also said Raluca Turcan, Minister of Culture.
“At Casa Artelor we have a great opportunity for us to take the crafts further”
In addition to the organized workshops, Casa Artelor will also help to perpetuate Romanian handicrafts through the Popular Art Gallery, where Romanian craftsmen will be able to sell their objects. According to the restoration project, the Folk Art Galleries will be remodeled on the ground floor of the Casa Artelor, where handicraft items, made by traditional craftsmen from all over the country, will be sold. Also here, spaces for craft workshops are included in the project, in which the locals will be able to get involved. Also, a cultural cafe will be set up on the ground floor of the House of Arts. On the 1st floor of the building there will be 3 spaces for vocational training courses in archaic trades, temporary exhibitions and cultural events. In the attic of Casa Artelor, the project includes an innovative exhibition about the crafts that shaped the Transylvanian cultural landscape.
“I’m from Sibiu and I’m reproducing a fir wood gate. I have been working in this field for 20 years and we are happy that we can spread what is old and traditional,” said Aurel, a craftsman from Sibiu.
Badea Costică is from Botoșani and arrived in Sibiu for the first time with the opening of the Casa Artelor.
“I make hats from a to z. It’s the first time in Sibiu, I wanted to come, I always made a plan to get there, but I didn’t succeed. Other fairs came up and I couldn’t come. Sibiu, as far as I have walked, looks very good, it is set up and I was surprised, I went to the Astra Museum, it is very well set up from a tourist point of view. At Casa Artelor we have a great opportunity for us to take the crafts further”, he said for Turnul Sfatului.
The project Restoration and revitalization of the historical monument Casa Artelor – Center of activities and regional resources (CARR), financed by SEE Grants 2014 – 2021 within the RO-CULTURE Program, is implemented by the ASTRA Museum in partnership with SC Future Capital SRL (Romania) and Mussene I Sor Trondelag from Trondheim (Norway), between October 1, 2020 and April 30, 2024. It has a total value of 3,076,185.18 euros, the value of non-refundable financing being 2,216,848.59 euros.
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