ESSENTIALS. EMINESCU. ESSENTIAL

This year, on Romania’s National Culture Day, coinciding by design with the birthday of our greatest poet, Mihai Eminescu (1850-1889), we think not only about creativity but also about courage; about determination as much as about imagination. We place the celebration of culture during the pandemic at the unique intersection of poetry and indispensable work, both essential in a time of pressing challenges.

In a short film entitled ESSENTIALS. EMINESCU. ESSENTIAL, which we made especially for this important date in the Romanian cultural calendar, we have invited a few of New York’s essential workers – a nurse, a policeman, a cook, a shop assistant, a janitor, a bus driver, a construction technician and a farmer – to read some of Mihai Eminescu’s most famous verses, taking time off from their continuous effort that remains absolutely necessary for the survival of the city. The readings put the contemporary relevance of Mihai…