"Instead of trowing away a broken sock we fix it with a patch."
sais Gabriela Cristea from Bucharest. She was born i Romania 1980,
and when asked to pick three words to describe her country she choose
patch, color and fatal.
Gabriela represents a Romanian generation with both memories of
the communism and visions of the future. So does Iulian Muresan,
born 1976, who choose surprise, poetic and alcohol as his words
for Romania.
Mihai Gabriel Cosma, born 1980, picks the word pity as one of the
three. "It's a pity, because Romania deserves something better."
he sais, with a somehow bitter tone.
Alina Burlacu, born 1981 and the youngest of these four Romanians,
has a more hopeful tone in her voice when she picks her words for
Romania: mystery, contradiction, happiness. "Even if we are
poor, we know how to enjoy ourselves and find happiness." Alina
sais.
Gabriela Cristea, Mihai Gabriel Cosma, Alina Burlacu and Iulian
Muresan were all born during Romania's communist regime, grown up
during the tumult of the revolution and raised in a developing society.
They all have different visions and memories, but are all at a point
where it's hard to know exactly either where to go in life or where
the country is going. Though, their stories can provide a picture
of what Romania is and will be.
* * *
Surrounded by sounds of falling bowling pins and by her American
flat mates, Alina Burlacu rest her beer on the table and says she
remembers December 22, 1989. "My father called home and told
us to leave the city and go to the mountains, to our grandparents,"
she says. But, Alina wanted to stay. It was her last school-day
before the Christmas holiday, and she didn't want to miss the festivities.
Though, they did leave, and they escaped the revolution tumult.
When they came back, Alina noticed bullet holes in the buildings.
“But the revolution was a bluff. Nothing really changed then,”
she says.
* * *
"My memory from the communism is about standing in line,"
says Gabriela Cristea. "No one would ask what the line was
for, you would just take a place in the queue when you saw one,"
Gabriela continues with a smile. She just finished a meeting in
the smoky Bucharest cellar pub. Gabriela has access to an empty
house, which the group of people now emptying their beers wants
to create into something. A library with alternative books and magazines,
a place for screening films or a nightly open tea house are current
suggestions. Gabriela wants the house to host seminars about objects,
a theme she says she has a little obsession with.
“I dream about making a museum of mustaches and pockets,”
she says. Gabriela learned objects exposing from expography studies
in Hungaria, Italy and Romania She says her years abroad, in radical
university environments, has given her socialist ideas and a less
negative view of communism.
“I believe in combining what communism was with what capitalism
is. There were happy people during communism. There were apartments,
schools, jobs, normal working hours giving people time for themselves.
Now, people are without jobs, without houses, without social assistance.”
But Gabriela realizes she might be naive.
“Maby the problems were just hidden during communism,”
she says.
* * *
“There was not even one good thing during communism,”
says sculptor Mihai Gabriel Cosma. He strokes away an uneven part
in the face of the clay-person he is working on, and continues:
“What's the bright side of being in prison?”
A minute ago he talked about his uncle, who was imprisoned because
of the books he had in his attic. He stayed for 12 years, under
such bad conditions that he came back without any teeth or hair.
“What can I say? I hope you never live that time. It was a
prison for all Romanians,” Mihai says. He gives the abortions
laws as an other example of how communism tried to control people.
Abortions were not allowed, and many women trying to abort illegal
under poor conditions died. Mihai says he himself was born because
his mother didn't have a choice. "I am a result of this law."
Mihai grew up in the southern Romanian town Craiova, with his family
and a big dog called Pluto. After four years at a university in
Bucharest he graduated fine arts, and could start calling himself
sculptor. Mihai lets his muddy hand down the spine of the clay-person
and says it is a model for a monument in the city Cerna Voda. A
lot of people died there while realizing Ceaucescu's dream of a
channel between the Danube and the Black See, and the monument will
symbolize the workers sacrificed. “I think the face should
have a sad smile,” says Mihai.
* * *
Iulian Muresan takes a sip of his three-o-clock breakfast coffee
and says: “Communism was a part of my childhood, but it is
memories now.” For Iulian, it is memories of people interacting
more, spending more time with family, with neighbors, with good
books.
“There were only two hours of TV each day, and those two hours
were full of Ceausescu and propaganda,” Iulian says. People
did not, like nowadays, spend their time in front of the TV. “Or
by the computer,” Iulian adds with a knowing glance towards
his flat mate by the he flickering screen in the corner of the room.
Iulian lights a cigarette and says he has hope in the new president,
Traian Basescu. "Finally there is someone neither communist
nor post-communist in power." And Iulian is eager to see if
there will be more unmasking of former communists, like the one
concerning his own work-place just published in a national newspaper.
The radio station where Iulian works as a journalist is the public
state owned one.
“It is the most political controlled station when it should
be the less,” Iulian says. A recent news article reveled that
persons in the stations key positions are former helpers to the
communist party's secret information service Securitate.
“These people are in the position to make editorial decisions
and apply censorship. They need to resign immediately,” Iulian
says.
* * *
Gabriela says she has little belief in the politicians. “They
have more interest in obtaining houses and cars for them selves,
than serving the interests of the people.” One other of her
concerns is the keeping of the Romanian rhythm, while approaching
Western Europe and entering EU. “I don't want Romania to enter
into a pattern of stress, were the life is all about work, money,
cars and houses.” She doesn't believe it is possible or wise
to avoid capitalism. But, she thinks it is important to “convince
people in this world that life is not all about money.”
* * *
Iulian has similar thoughts. Now, he enjoys that Romania provides
positive features of the western civilizations, like information
access and the freedom that comes with democracy, without yet being
under Western European stress. Iulian knocks the ash of his cigarette
on the empty breakfast plate and says: “Things seems to be
moving in the right direction though. But it is too early to know
yet. Most important is that there is optimism among Romanians.”
* * *
Alina, surrounded by the American boys, has the looks but is single
at the moment. In her future she wants to build a family.
“And I want to build a house,” she says. But first of
all, she wants to travel. “The world isn't huge and unreachable
as it was during communism.” In 30 years, Alina sees her self
living in Romania But she says she can not be sure. “Maybe
I will fall in love with another country.”
* * *
Many young Romanians go abroad because of the higher salaries. A
Romanian minimum salary is about 100 euro. Alina earns five times
that in her job as account manager in a PR-firm. Iulian earns 300
euro as a journalist. Though, he wants to stay in Romania. His problem
is accommodation. It is difficult to pay expensive Bucharest rents,
like his recent of 100 euro, and it is impossible to go back to
the village because of lack of jobs.
“The state doesn’t give a shit. They don't build blocks
of flats anymore,” Iulian says.
* * *
Mihai says he will stay in Romania. “I have been abroad, but
it was worse than I expected. I have everything I need here.”
He continues: “Romania is still naive and virgin. You can
be a king in this country, you still can,” he says. But he
himself lost the feeling of being a king, and says he now instead
feel like a prostitute.
“I used to love my work, like a mother loves her children.
But I don't anymore. In this period, I do it only for the money,”
says Mihai Gabriel. And art does pay. If the city Cerna Voda likes
the monument Mihai is working on, he will get a lot of work to do
- and 20 000 euro.
* * *
“Romania looks powerful and beautiful from abroad,”
says Gabriela Cristea while fingering on her Nokia mobile. Inside
Romania, she says she feels the country is like mud. “I get
stuck in this mud and it gets hard to move.” But she does
like Romania, and she says she tries to make herself see the country
in the same positiv way she sees it from abroad.
* * *
“Time is the best medicine,” says Alina. She says she
thinks new generations, with fewer prejudies, more visions and stronger
ambitions will affect the Romanian mentality.
“I think of Romania as a tree. You can not pull it by the
roots, you have to let new branches grow,” says Alina Burlacu.
