The 3rd edition of the International Danube Conference on Culture, “Danube Region-the River as an Experience” took place in Timisoara, Romania, on 24 – 26 June 2015. The conference was held within the framework of the development and funding programme of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR).
The event was organized by the Municipality of Timisoara, the Association Timisoara – European Capital of Culture, the German Cultural Centre Timisoara, the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of the State of Baden-Württemberg and the Consultant for Cultural Affairs for South-East Europe at Donauschwäbisches Zentralmuseum Ulm.
The conference included three panels: Danube-house of cultures; Creative Industries-Employment and Cultural Development Opportunities in the Danube Region; Culture and Sustainable Development of Cities. During the first panel, Danube-house of cultures, the participants put a lot of questions and expressed opinions; they discussed about what can provide this house of cultures, about the semantic of the word “culture”, about the danubian space as root for many people and the topic: who has access at culture. Ana Zlibut, secretary general of DANET, underlined the importance of involvement of many participants in cultural projects and gave example “The Wanted Danube” Project, an European Project who involved more than 6000 participants from 8 danubian countries; and it was rewarded with two European Prices.
The participants were present at two book launches at Calina Galery. Nick Thorpe, correspondent for the BBC, journalist and filmmaker, presented his book “The Danube- A journey upriver from the Black Sea to the Black Forest”; a book where the author represented in 14 chapters “ the lives and views of the people who live from, and beside, the river”; “stories of the people of the Danube, and their dark, dreamy river”.
Victor Neumann, professor at West University of Timisoara and director of the Art Museum Timisoara, presented his book “The Interculturality of Banat”; a book where the author indicated that “the interculturality of the region Banat represented and may represent the harmony of the inter-community and interregional relations, a history, a society and a spirituality whose horizons connect with the thought at a benign political future”.
Because Timisoara is the only city in Romania in which three state theatres operate in three different languages, the participants choose to enjoy one of the three theatres performances in Romanian, German and Hungarian. The Conference in Timisoara intensified the dialogue related to the cultural policies and strengthen the international networks. The result of the conference was the creation of a virtual space for the cultures in the Danube region, with animated dialogue and cooperation. At Multifunctional Hall of Timis County Council took place the Annual Conference of Working Group Culture and Science of the Working Community of the Danube Regions.
After Ulm (2013), Novi Sad (2014) and Timisoara (2015), Ruse can be the place for the 4th International Conference on Culture in 2016.
Author: Ana Zlibuț, The Writers League, Timisoara Banat Branch, Romania